Brussels, 30/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - French Defence Minister Hervé Morin has chosen to bring together his counterparts from all European Union member states in Deauville for an informal meeting that is to begin on Wednesday 1 October with a lunch devoted to operations underway.
Ministers are expected to briefly cover civilian operations, the main two being those in Kosovo and Georgia. They are also expected to welcome the rapid deployment in this second country of the observation mission that will, from Wednesday on, have 340 persons on the ground including 265 monitors, according to figures provided by a diplomat in Brussels. Ministers should also tackle the two main military operations. On the subject of EUFOR Tchad/RCA, General Nash said on Monday in Brussels that redeployment planning had begun. Discussions in Deauville should among other things cover the arrangements for this withdrawal and the contingents available to ensure smooth transition towards the UN force, to replace EUFOR on the ground. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, there is also the matter of forces withdrawal that the lack of political consensus over a constitution cannot put off indefinitely. Finally, ministers may tackle the dossier concerning the fight against piracy. They must reach agreement on the objectives of the naval operation to be launched in due course to seek to contain this scourge and ensure the security of vessels navigating through Somali waters.
The French EU Presidency, however, above all wanted to place emphasis on the development of military capacities. The subjects to be covered on Wednesday afternoon include: - helicopters (training of crews and upgrading of aircraft) on the basis of a Franco-British initiative involving the European Defence Agency (EDA) and NATO; - the heavy Franco-German transport helicopter; - the pooling of support, training and acquisition of A400M strategic transport aircraft; - aeronaval cooperation (reflection on interoperability, if not various forms of cooperation tending towards the constitution of a common aeronaval group); - space imagery on the basis of the MUSIS project; - articulation between EDA and OCCAR; - mine clearance at sea; - and the development of EDA research activities on the basis of priorities identified as part of the Capabilities Development Plan. On all these subjects, the French EU Presidency hopes to gather expressions of interest for participation from its partners. Hervé Morin also hopes to rekindle reflection on the employability of battlegroups (GT-1500) which have never been used to date. He will also speak of the various European force packages (European Corps, Euromarfor, etc) which remain under-used.
Discussions on Thursday will mainly focus on the initiative for exchanges between young officers, also known as the “Military Erasmus”. Ministers will meet a group of young people to discuss defence and European citizenship. (O.J./transl.jl)