Brussels, 23/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - At the first formal meeting of European Chiefs-of-Staff in Brussels on Wednesday, the Swedish Presidency of the Council presented a report on the "shortfalls" in military capabilities that will have to be overcome by the second military pledging conference, to be held in Brussels in November. "Work on the identification of capabilities and shortfalls that need overcoming as a priority must continue" General Gustav Hagglund, Chairman of the Permanent Military Committee, told the press. In this report, classified "military secret", "we identified 30 or 40 sectors where shortfalls remain and provided an exact number of elements necessary in each category", said the Swedish representative on the Permanent Military Committee, Mertil Melin, remarking that "it is now up to the Member States to decide what they are prepared to finance to overcome these shortfalls".
At this first meeting since the appointment of General Hagglund, the Chiefs-of-Staff discussed the setting up of instruments for the common security and defence policy. The Director General of the provisional European staff headquarters made a report on the moving of his services to buildings on Avenue de Cortenberg last week, last stage in the setting up of the "permanent" staff headquarters.. "Some 70 people currently make up the staff headquarters, they should be 135 as planned", General Hagglund hoped. The setting up of the "permanent" staff headquarters will complete the institutional puzzle of ESDP, following the setting up of Permanent Military and Political Committees.
The dispute between the EU and Turkey, which is blocking a definitive agreement on the use by the EU of some of NATO's assets, was not directly broached during the meeting, Mertil Melin told the press. On this point, "we cannot prejudge the results of the meeting of NATO in Budapest on 29 and 30 May", he declared, refusing to comment on the expected results "of another organization". However, "if there is no agreement with NATO within two years, the EU will have to develop its own capabilities", he remarked. The subject should be on the agenda of the joint EU/NATO meeting in Budapest on 30 May and the EU and NATO Military Committees, in Brussels on 12 June (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.3).