Brussels, 03/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - Three major themes will dominate the informal meeting of the European Union defence ministers organised by the Austrian EU Presidency in Innsbruck on 6 and 7 March: - civil-military interaction, military operations and military capabilities. The Member State ministers taking part in the European Defence Agency (EDA) will also a meeting of the Steering Board at this crucial moment as the Agency seeks to become fully operational after an initial running-in period.
Discussion on the civil-military aspects will be aimed at identifying the elements of added value that the EU can provide in a field that is still of a partially experimental kind. Some EU-led operations, mainly in Bosnia-Herzegovina, have shown that improvements can be made to cooperation and coordination for the various civil and military actions. In the context of follow-up to the Hampton Court Summit, ministers should also begin to prepare formal Council discussions in May on disaster response. A contribution by Javier Solana has been available on this since the European Council last December. Ministers are mainly expected to discuss the role of strategic transport and the best way to manage capabilities in this field.
As far as operations are concerned, ministers will take stock of EUFOR activities in Bosnia-Herzegovina with a view to the next review in June 2006. They are also expected to confirm their commitment to continued support for the African Union operation in Darfur, whether or not it is taken over by the United Nations. They are also expected to take stock of the EU advisory and assistance mission for Democratic Republic of Congo security reform (EUSEC - RD CONGO) and on the preparation for a possible security support mission for DRC during the electoral period to begin in June. In the field of capabilities, the defence ministers will resume work on the Headline Goal 2010 and prepare the next conference on capabilities to be held in May, with, among other points on the agenda, confirmation of battlegroups for 2008 and 2009.
The European Defence Agency hopes to make 2006 its research and technology year, EDA Director Nick Witney recalled on Thursday, stressing the conference's success on research organised by the Agency on 9 February in Brussels (see EUROPE 9129). Although no decision is expected at this stage, ministers, who will be meeting in Innsbruck at the EDA Steering Board meeting, will have to resume their responsibilities, either giving EDA the means to initiate research work, or depriving it of the means and running the risk of seeing it become an empty shell. Javier Solana has suggested creating a fund to finance research, and the Agency could begin to launch activities in the field of protection for personnel, vehicles and infrastructures. The formula chosen would allow Member States to contribute to the fund on a voluntary basis, by choosing their level of contribution. The establishment of a management committee (a little after the model of the Community research framework programme) would allow States to take part in conserving control of the work programme without, however, intervening for every single research project. In order to ensure that all this works as it should, however, defence ministers must be willing to put money into the fund and to stop imposing the principle of “fair returns”, which would end up paralysing the whole system.
The meeting, chaired by Austria's Defence Minister Günther Platter, is to open on Monday afternoon. The EU's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, will attend the meeting that will also welcome NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. General John Reith, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (D-SACEUR), who is responsible within NATO for command of the Althea operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, must also take part in the second working session devoted to EU operations. Capabilities will be discussed on Tuesday morning before the Agency's Steering Board meeting.
After the work, the EU Troika will brief representatives from candidate countries and non-EU NATO members.