Brussels, 25/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 18 July, the EU Council of Ministers took note of a report from its secretariat general on multifunctional civilian crisis management resources in integrated-format civilian response teams. The report presents every detail of the Civilian Response Team (CRT) concept. The teams are composed of experts from the member nations with the participation of the Council secretariat. The CRT is a civilian crisis management rapid reaction capability of flexible size and composition, without duplicating the work of a rapid reaction disaster relief capability within the framework of the Community civil protection mechanism.
The CRTs, which increase the rapid reaction capability, would aim to carry out assessment and fact-finding missions during a crisis, establish an initial operational presence on the ground after the adoption of a Council joint action (and back the implementation of a civil crisis management operation), as well as, where appropriate, support existing EU mechanisms for crisis management at national and regional level in order to meet the most pressing needs, mainly under the leadership of the EU special representative. The members of a CRT would come from a “pool” initially made up of one hundred experts at most designated by the Member States.
According to the report, an in initial rapid reaction capability using these teams could be in place by the date when commitments taken within the framework of the civil objective for 2008 are fully implemented. A first objective for the end of 2006 could be that of having a civil intervention capability composed of 100 experts at most, who have followed an initiation course for CRT members.
According to the text on the civilian target for 2008 adopted by the European Council of 17 December 2004, the EU sets itself the ambition of being able to conduct several civil missions simultaneously at varying degrees of engagement, using different capabilities and including at least a major substitute civil mission in the short term and in a high-risk environment. The EU also undertakes to improve its rapid reaction capability, including the possibility of deploying civilian means at the same time as military means from the outset of an operation. The various stages of the civil target for 2008 are as follows: - definition of the strategic planning hypotheses and illustrative scenarios (to be completed April 2005); - the drawing up of a list of capability requirements (July 2005); - an assessment of the national contributions to the list of capability requirements and identification of capability shortfalls (to be completed end 2005 when Member States will confirm their commitments during a conference on the improvement of civilian capabilities); - and monitoring of the overall civil objective in the run up to 2008.