Brussels, 10/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - EU defence ministers will be meeting early in the day on 13 November to discuss the EU's military capacity, cooperation between civilians and the military and EU military operations. They are expected to announce that the EU's GT-1500 battlegroups will be fully operational in January 2007. The defence ministers will then meet for the European Defence Agency (EDA)'s steering board, where they are expected to announce the launch of the first joint research and development programme into force protection.
EU defence ministers will start the day looking at the EU's current military operations, like the Althea operation in Bosnia Herzegovina, in talks attended by Althea's commander, General John Leith. The idea is that in December, a decision will be taken to significantly (but gradually) cut the number of EU troops on the ground. This decision in principle will be confirmed early in 2007, depending on how the situation develops in Bosnia and across the Balkans in general, particularly in Kosovo, when the timetable for withdrawal will be decided along with the number of troops involved. Ministers will also discuss the option of keeping a battlegroup in reserve (possibly a GT-1500), not necessarily in Bosnia, to be deployed if necessary. Ministers will discuss the situation facing the EUFOR troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and how to end the EUFOR operation. Its mandate runs out on 30 November but EU troops will not finish re-deployment until the end of the year. Ministers will be examining the mandate of the troops remaining in the Congo if the situation deteriorates after 30 November. Diplomats point out that a debate is currently underway in the EU about the legality of the situation. Ministers will discuss beefing up the EU's involvement in security reforms in the Congo (EUSEC DRC) and consider EU support for the African Union's AMIS mission in Darfur, Sudan.
EU defence ministers will then discuss EU military capabilities and are expected to declare the GT-1500 battlegroups fully operational as of January 2007. This means that the EU will constantly have two GT-1500 battlegroups on standby, that is, deployable within a fortnight for conducting two separate operations simultaneously. Each framework nation will organise training exercises for the GT-1500 battlegroups. The first will take place on 21 November in Germany, for the GT-1500 composed of German, Dutch and Finnish troops.
Meeting within the EDA Steering Board, defence ministers are expected to announce the launch of the first joint programme on research and development for force protection. France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Portugal, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Sweden have already stated their intention to take part. Austria is expected to participate also, making a total of 17 Member States out of 24 taking part in the programme (Ed.: Denmark has a military opt-out), with France, Poland and Germany being the three main contributors. The programme, whose budget is said to be around €50 million for three years, will cover five areas including collective protection, individual protection, secure communications systems, data analysis and mission planning - within which the EDA has identified 18 research sectors. The idea is to form a network of specialists and to promote integration within the European Union. The programme will be headed by a management committee, composed of representatives of participant Member States and presided by the EDA, which will make the decisions on what funding should be used for and to whom contracts should be awarded. Norway is to take part in the programme, this being made possible as it has signed an administrative agreement allowing it to cooperate with EDA (we would point out that a similar agreement with Turkey is still on the Council table and that Switzerland is interested in such an agreement also).
The EDA Steering Board should finally approve the agency's operational budge for the next three years. The agency would like to receive around €20 million for 2007-2009, i.e. a very slight increase compared to its current budget (€5 million annually). The EDA will also publish its statistics on the defence research effort which, as one might expect, is expected to stress the inadequate defence research investment on the part of Member States.
During their lunch, Defence Ministers will above all discuss the situation in Afghanistan in order to reflect on ways to make EU aid on the ground more effective, and better coordinated both internally and externally. They will also discuss the added value that an EU ESDP mission for reform of the Afghan police could add to what some Member States of the EU (such as Spain, Germany and Italy) are already doing.
The EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, will be signing an agreement with France, Spain, Italy and Belgium, to allow the EU satellite centre located in Torrejon, Spain, to benefit from Helios II satellite imagery. (dt)