In a working paper, obtained by EUROPE and dated 12 August, on ‘initial lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis regarding decision-making and operational aspects of CSDP’, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission propose 10 recommendations to support decision-making structures, recommendations that go beyond simply managing the epidemic.
Such a report had been requested by the Ambassadors of the Member States meeting in the Political and Security Committee in May.
Thus, in their 60-page report, the services call “to swiftly implement all actions needed to ensure duty of care obligations to enable a safe return to full staffing”.
With the exception of the two EUNAVFOR operations (Atalanta and Irini), EU missions have been subject to varying degrees of withdrawal of personnel.
“All CSDP missions operating in the MENA region and Africa have been severely affected, resulting in a significant reduction in mandate activity and staffing. For these missions, there is a clear need for coordinated redeployment”, the report explains.
The EULEX Kosovo and EUMM Georgia missions have shown “greater resilience”, with the core activity of the mandate having been maintained throughout the crisis. While EUAM Ukraine’s staffing levels have been significantly affected by the pandemic, resulting in a significant reduction in personnel, the mission has continued to perform its core tasks, the document states.
According to the EEAS and the Commission, updated business continuity plans must be ensured and also adapted to situations such as pandemics. According to the report, “imposed physical removal and repatriation of personnel continue to affect the pace of activity in CSDP missions and operations, but have not, to date, had a significant impact on operational objectives”.
The services would like to see a stable solution found for medical evacuation from civilian missions, as well as the establishment of standard rules in terms of, inter alia, staff allowances or telecommuting for crisis situations and relocation. The provision and installation of the necessary and appropriate IT equipment should be readily available and updated as necessary.
Reinforcing synergies
More broadly, the EEAS and the Commission emphasise the need to increase synergies. They point to the possibility of further streamlining legal and financial regulations and personnel policy to facilitate systematic cooperation between different EU actors in the same theatre, and to explore how best to use the same resources on issues such as strategic evacuation.
Similarly, in view of the differences in status between the staff of the European Delegations, civilian staff and military personnel, the services would like to see an examination of how the current EEAS crisis response mechanism could be better used to coordinate and harmonise the actions to be taken and the procedures to be applied.
In addition, the EEAS and the Commission call for strengthening the civil-military coordination and cooperation capacities of command structures at headquarters and in the field, in order to increase the impact, coherence and resilience of CSDP actions in line with the integrated approach.
They also wish to engage with Member States to provide support on how to maintain or increase current capabilities for CSDP missions and operations in the most effective way, despite the current challenges.
Finally, the services consider that the procedures for taking decisions at political-strategic level by written procedure should be used in case the physical meetings of the EU Council are cancelled. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)