Brussels, 01/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - As anticipated, on 1 March the French General Jean-Paul Perruche will replace German General Rainer Schuwirth as European Chief of Staff. The change of command was marked by a military ceremony in front of the Council of the EU building, Justus Lipsius, in Brussels on 26 February, in the presence of Staff members.
After the ceremony, General Perruche listed his priorities: to set up an independent cell for planning and intervention units, and welcome ten new members after enlargement. General Perruche said that he hoped the initiative of the United Kingdom, France and Germany to create "battle groups" would become a European initiative (see EUROPE of 14 February, p.4). On the "Headline Goal" set by the EU for 2010, General Perruche stressed the need for interoperability between the forces involved, and anticipated that Member States' marine and air services would set up their own forces equivalent to the battle groups.
General Perruche will be the second EU Chief of Staff. In his farewell speech, General Schuwirth, who had occupied the post since 1 March 2001, pointed out that since then, the European military had prepared two EU operations, in Macedonia and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
General Perruche started his military career as an artillery officer. He took part in French action in Chad in the late 1970s, and in the peace-keeping operations in Somalia between December 1992 and January 1993. In May 1999, he became the head of the French military mission to SHAPE (allied supreme headquarters). From 16 September 2002 and March 2003 he was the deputy commander of NATO's forces in Kosovo, and France's military representative to Kosovo.