The Council of the European Union is expected to reiterate its determination to strengthen its capacity to act as a ‘global security provider’, according to draft conclusions on security and defence obtained by EUROPE on 27 April.
This should be done through its operational engagement, including CSDP missions and operations, as well as deepening security and defence cooperation between Member States, increasing defence investment and improving the development of civil and military capabilities and operational readiness within the Union, says the draft conclusions, the final version of which is expected to be adopted at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
The document has many timelines. In particular, the EU Council invites the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, to present a first draft of the ‘strategic compass’ to the November 2021 Council, with the intention that it be adopted in March 2022 (see EUROPE 12655/17).
The draft conclusions return to the strengthening of the Union’s civilian and military operational commitment. The EU Council calls for “further strengthening the robustness and flexibility of the EU’s civilian and military operational commitments in order to increase their effectiveness, as well as ensuring that the EU’s civilian and military capabilities are better prepared to respond to urgent crises”. It encourages the development of links between Member States’ operational commitments and CSDP missions and operations, welcoming in this respect the integration of the German Joint Special Operations Task Force Gazelle into the EUTM Mali.
For the EU Council, it is also important to strengthen the EU’s awareness and response capacity in all phases of the conflict cycle—from early warning and conflict prevention to crisis management, stabilisation and peacebuilding.
Welcoming the establishment of the European Peace Facility (see EUROPE 12683/30), it called on Member States and Mr Borrell to come forward with proposals for assistance measures, the first of which should be operational by July.
The Council of the EU also sees a need for more effective EU planning and command, recalling the importance of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) in this regard. The EU Council will return to this issue by November 2021. In the same month, the EU Council is expected to return to the civilian CSDP pact.
Returning to defence initiatives, the EU Council invites the High Representative to prepare a third report on the interactions, linkages and coherence between EU defence initiatives (CARD, PESCO, European Defence Fund) before summer 2021.
The draft conclusions also state that the annual report on permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) is expected by the end of July and the revision of the decision on governance rules for PESCO projects and the adoption of new projects by November 2021.
Strengthening the EU’s role as a global provider of maritime security is another priority. On this point, the EU Council will return to the implementation of the pilot project for the concept of coordinated maritime presences in the Gulf of Guinea by January 2022. It will also examine, starting in 2021, the possibility of applying this concept to other potential future areas of maritime interest, including in the Indo-Pacific region.
For the EU Council, it is also urgent to “significantly advance EU efforts” to ensure secure European access to the global commons, including space, cyberspace, and the high seas.
The text also stresses the need to strengthen the resilience of the Union, the Member States, and their capacity to counter hybrid threats through the implementation of relevant actions.
Finally, according to the draft conclusions, the Union remains committed to close cooperation with its partners, in particular the main international organisations and regional partners, including the UN, NATO, the OSCE, and the United States. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)