EU Member States’ Chiefs of Defence met in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, 24 and 25 October, specifically to discuss the implementation of the ‘Strategic Compass’.
According to an EU Council press release, they stressed “the sense of urgency of achieving the fundamental and ambitious goals set out in the Strategic Compass without delay”.
They studied the implementation of the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity, reiterating the importance of exercising this capacity very soon—starting in 2023—“in order to identify lessons and react accordingly”. They also discussed how to improve the EU Command and Control structure so as to support ‘Compass’ ambitions through “robust, secure and complete technological solutions for communications”.
According to the Chiefs of Defence, it is necessary to address capability gaps by making the most of existing Community instruments and joint collaborative projects, such as Permanent Structured Cooperation [PESCO] and the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD).
Overall, they noted the need to support common solutions towards EU Strategic Autonomy, in synergy with all its partners, and “develop robust and cutting-edge military capabilities, as well as strategic enablers”.
In connection with not only military mobility but also the war in Ukraine, the Chiefs of Defence once again emphasised the need to have the capacity, infrastructure, rules, and procedures to give troops the flexibility and agility to move throughout the EU. According to the Council of the EU, “Further and more substantial cooperation between the two organization[s] [the EU and NATO] was strongly encouraged.”
The Chiefs of Defence also discussed the future of CSDP missions and operations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)