On Thursday, 27 October, European External Action Service Director for Security and Defence Policy Joanneke Balfoort announced a new series of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects.
Speaking before the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), Ms Balfoort explained that Member States had until the end of the month to propose new projects.
Sixty projects are already under development. Regarding these projects, Ms Balfoort stated, “Nearly half of them plan to deliver concrete results by 2025”, and two are fully operational: the Cyber Rapid Response Teams and the European Medical Command.
“Military Mobility is another project; it’s delivering concrete results, and [it is] one that is attractive to partners”, she added, reminding [MEPs] that three non-EU countries that are members of NATO—the United States, Canada, and Norway—had joined the project and that the United Kingdom might soon follow suit (see EUROPE 13051/34). The European Commission is also expected to present an action plan on military mobility on 9 November.
Asked about the projects that are not making progress, the director explained that there is a continuous process of reassessment, even though the review is scheduled for 2025. “[I]t’s important to take [the subject] into the broader discussion [...] on capability development because there we have the whole range of looking at which capabilities are needed”, she added, believing that the focus needed to be on “really operational” projects. She also reminded [MEPs] that the Permanent Structured Cooperation was only five years old and that defence projects take a long time.
Moreover, Ms Balfoort hoped that the first ministerial meeting on defence capabilities, which will be held on 15 November, would look at the PESCO. Ministers could adopt the EU Council’s recommendations on the implementation of the Permanent Structured Cooperation that same day. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)