Brussels, 09/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Political and Security Committee held its first meeting of the year in Brussels on 8 January under the Presidency of Ambassador Carles Casajuana. The committee used the occasion to examine its six-month programme that has just started and which will obviously spend much of its time on developments in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Balkans, as well as in the Mediterranean and Latin America (a priority of the Spanish Presidency).
The Political and Security Committee discussions focused on the issue of how well they were prepared for the management crisis exercise planned for May, and the Missions that will make up the Union's future Rapid Deployment Force. One hypothesis developed by COPS was that of an EU International Task Force in Bosnia operating under the leadership of the United Nations.