Brussels, 20/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - The meeting of General Affairs Ministers, extended to include EU Defence Ministers, was staged on Monday afternoon in the wake of a conference convened on committing military capabilities. During their encounter the officials adopted a declaration on the commitment of military capabilities (we are publishing the full version of the document), which stresses that the process, « carried out without any unnecessary duplication, does not imply the creation of a European army" that the EU « recognises the prime responsibility of the UN Security Council in peacekeeping and international security matters ». The work conducted since the EU Summit in Feira has enabled the EU to "define the range of resources required for the successful completion of the Petersberg missions, including the most demanding ones», according to the declaration, which stresses that the assessment of the « catalogue of forces » make it possible to « claim that by 2003 » that the EU will be able to carry out all the Petersberg missions but certain capabilities need to be improved upon in terms of quantity and quality. Approved by the conference on the commitment of military capabilities, the "catalogue of forces" lists the contributions the Member States plan to make on a voluntary basis so as to reach the overall target (deployment between now and 2002, within a period of less than 60 days for at least 12 months, of forces with a strength of up to 60,000).
The declaration also speaks of:
- forces: the contributions featured in the « catalogue of forces » represents a "reservoir of over 100,000 individuals and about 400 combat planes and 100 ships" Between now and 2003 the EU's relevant political and military organisations will be able to guarantee the political control and strategic management of EU operations and the Community could "gradually take on the Petersberg missions" in the light of its increased military capability". Improvements are required in terms of availability, deployability, durability and interoperability for forces, as well as for military equipment (including arms and munitions) and back-up services.
- strategic capabilities: the Member States have offered a satisfactory number of national and multinational staff headquarters as regards command, control and communication. The EU's staff headquarters, which will have its first operational capability in 2001, will boost the EU's joint early warning capability and provide this with a capacity for strategic situational and planning assessment prior to decision-making. As for intelligence, the EU will have the (WEU) Torrejón satellite centre at its command plus resources provided by the Member States, but « serious efforts will be required to have more strategic intelligence available in the future. Improvements are also required for strategic transport. The declaration states that: the Member States have made undertakings concerning medium and long-term efforts in terms of deployability, durability and interoperability of forces, the development of « strategic » capabilities (transport, staff, intelligence) and tightening up of operational capabilities of key importance for crisis management operations ( rescue systems, defence against ground-to-ground missiles, precision weapons, logistical support, simulation tools); - the process now underway in some Member States to restructure their defence industry will "facilitate the development of European capabilities". Some Member States have referred to their work on a number of "key projects» (future transport aircraft, maritime transport ships, troop transport helicopters, Helios II, in the satellite sphere).
The declaration also states that in order to « ensure the longevity of the European capability strengthening process », the Member States have decided to "define an assessment mechanism for following up and facilitating progress towards the fulfilment of the undertakings made". The overall shape of the mechanism is due to be approved during the EU Summit in Nice. It seeks to provide the EU with such an assessment capacity "on the basis of consultations between the Member States". It will be based on: - retaining the EU's autonomous decision-making; - the recognition of the political and voluntary nature of the undertaking made"; - transparency and clarity so as to allow comparisons between the
Member States' commitments; - the flexibility required to adapt to new needs that are identified. Relations with NATO: the assessment mechanism will take account of the need to avoid duplication and to ensure the EU's undertaking are consistent with the strength objectives accepted as part of NATO planning, as well as the mutual strengthening of the EU's capability target and those arising from the Alliances defence capability initiative; relations with third countries: the mechanisms will ensure account is taken of contributions by European allies that are not EU members and by candidate countries.
The declarations stresses that the contributions made during the 21 November meeting will help boost the EU's intervention capability "in a way that is more tailored to circumstances (On Tuesday morning, EU Defence Ministers will first meet their counterparts from six European NATO members - Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic- and other candidate countries and then the six European NATO members separately). The declaration says the EU Member States have agreed that contributions by third countries should be assessed "according to the same criteria as those applied to the Member States ".