The third version of the draft ‘Strategic Compass’ provides further details on the future ‘EU Rapid Deployment Capacity’.
According to the draft, dated 18 February, the EU specifies what its Rapid Deployment Capacity will be: a “modular force of up to 5,000 troops, including land, air and maritime components, as well as the required strategic enablers”.
“Such a modular capacity can be used in different phases of an operation in a non-permissive environment, such as initial entry, reinforcement or as a reserve force to secure an exit”, the document said, adding that the development of this capacity will be based on operational scenarios that will initially focus on rescue and evacuation operations, as well as on the initial phase of stabilisation operations.
The new version of the draft states that a substantial modification of the EU Battlegroups - which already exist but have never been used - should result in a more robust and flexible instrument, for example through tailored force packages including land, maritime and air components, different levels of operational readiness and longer stand-by periods.
The Europeans will also organise training and exercises within the EU framework to increase the readiness and interoperability (also in line with NATO standards) of all elements of this capacity, stating that this is “key” in overcoming the obstacles Europeans have faced in the past.
The draft also states that the Europeans will further adapt their current model of military CSDP missions in order to increase their effectiveness on the ground and that they will explore further possibilities to provide more targeted advisory support to partner countries’ defence organisations. They promise as well to strengthen the network of human rights and gender advisors in CSDP missions and operations by 2023.
The Europeans also commit to adopting a new civilian CSDP pact by mid-2023 and no longer by the end of 2023.
Reflection on the use of airspace
The new Compass project also focuses more on the issue of airspace than its predecessor. “State and non-state actors are challenging our security, both within the EU and beyond”, the text says, adding that advanced military capabilities are increasingly challenging the safe and unrestricted use of airspace.
For example, by the end of 2022, the Europeans say they will take forward a strategic reflection to ensure free, safe and secure European access to airspace.
‘Defence’ package
In addition, the new version of the Compass incorporates some of the proposals made by the Commission in its Defence Package presented on 15 February (see EUROPE 12891/1), including the adoption by 2023 of measures to promote and facilitate access to private financing for the defence industry, and new incentives for the joint procurement of defence capabilities developed in collaboration within the EU with VAT exemption and new financing solutions to facilitate the joint procurement by Member States of EU strategic defence capabilities. In addition, the draft highlights the possible amendment of the European Defence Fund regulation to strengthen the bonus system.
Reminder of the fundamental principles of European security
Furthermore, the new draft, drawn up in the midst of the Ukraine-Russia crisis, recalls the EU’s firm defence of the fundamental principles underpinning European security, enshrined in the UN Charter and the founding documents of the OSCE, notably the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter. “These include the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States, the inviolability of borders, refraining from the threat or use of force, and the freedom of States to choose or change their own security arrangements. These principles are neither negotiable nor subject to revision or reinterpretation”, the document warns. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)