Brussels, 16/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - At the opening of the European Council on Thursday evening, the High Representative of the EU for CFSP presented his ideas on measures to be taken to allow the Union to assume its full and growing role in the field of crisis management. In these ideas, which stem from the informal meeting of Hampton Court, Javier Solana stressed the need to (1) develop defence capability, (2) ensure that crisis management structures are able to respond to needs, including those caused by natural disasters, (3) step up funding for CFSP and (4) improve the coherence of the EU's action in the Balkans. Mr Solana went on to develop his ideas in four documents annexed to a letter he sent to the President of the European Council on 14 December.
In his document on capability, Javier Solana stressed the importance of research in improving convergence between armament programmes, whilst supporting the development of capability and innovation within the defence industry. With this in view, the European Defence Agency clearly has a central role to play. Mr Solana said that at the end of the Austrian Presidency, there should be cast-iron commitments in place on the priorities to be identified by the national research directors at their meeting of 16 December (as part of the Council of the European Defence Agency). Mr Solana would also like to see the drafting of a realistic roadmap for the completion of joint projects in 18 technical areas recently identified by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Sweden. The personal commitment of the defence ministers will be "crucial" at the meeting of the board of the Agency, to be held in Innsbruck in early March. Mr Solana also lay emphasis on the need to plug the gaps already identified by the Headline Goal 2010. Some of these capabilities will become increasingly urgent as they will be needed for the deployment of battle groups, he explained. On training, he referred to joint training programmes for the use and maintenance of equipment, EU training programmes for battle groups, compatible with the exercises of the NATO rapid reaction forces. Their implementation would be left up to the members of the battle group, under the responsibility of the framework nations.
On the subject of crisis management, the High Representative believes that the setting in place of a civilian-military planning cell was "a step in right direction, but does not go far enough". He went on to explain that the integration of civilian and military expertise within the structures of the Council must now be developed, as must a integrated framework for operational command, including cooperation with national headquarters and international organisations. The chain of command it must be clarified to assure its optimum efficiency, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With preparations beginning for a possible police operation in Kosovo, Javier Solana recommended that the Member States think about creating police capability for external deployment. In order to respond to natural disasters more specifically, he said that the coordination structure should be kept in place in case of crises, to include the Presidency, the Council, the Commission and the interested Member States. He also supports the creation of capability packages, which can be rapidly mobilised to respond to crises, and improvements to existing arrangements concerning aid transport.
300 million EUR would, according to Javier Solana, be a "reasonable" amount to fund the common costs of CFSP. However, we are still a long way from this sum, even though it found "broad support" at Hampton Court. Of the 120 million which will be needed (not including Kosovo) next year, the 2006 budget currently guarantees it just 102.6. Aside from the need to bring budgetary allocations up to the level of actual needs, Mr Solana recommends the introduction of more flexible and more rapidly mobilisable management mechanisms.
The huge number of people involved and of missions undermines the coherence of the Union's action in the Balkans, Javier Solana regretted, adding that "in an ideal world, we would apply a clear strategy, via a co-ordinated chain of command, and we would have a coherent EU message for the Balkans". "We could do better", said Mr Solana, proposing such things as improved coordination of communication by the various bodies in the EU. Mr Solana recommends that SITCEN and EUROPOL get together to prepare an impact assessment of organised crime in the Balkans, which may then be submitted to the summit of March 2006. On the basis of this analysis, the EU could adopt a global strategy to fight organised crime in the Balkans, involving the beneficiary countries involved.