Contrary to the impression frequently conveyed in some quarters, there is nothing in the European security and defence policy, or in the EU treaties – including the Nice treaty – that points Ireland in the direction of participating in a European army.
The Deputy asks if the Defence Forces will be taking part in the first military exercise of the European Union's rapid reaction force in May 2002. The answer is that there is no military exercise in May 2002 in the context of European security and defence policy, ESDP.
Rather, the EU is undertaking a crisis management exercise, CME02, to exercise and evaluate the full range of the EU's crisis management procedures and structures at the pre-decisional phase of the decision-making process in relation to a possible Petersberg operation. The aim of the exercise is to ensure the full range of civilian and military instruments is properly co-ordinated in order to help to ensure readiness and the necessary co-ordination between the EU's civilian and military instruments.
For the EU to be in a position to be able to act effectively in crisis management circumstances, it must be able to deploy the full range of civilian and military means at its disposal in a coherent and co-ordinated manner. Priority is being accorded to developing instruments and modalities for civil-military co-ordination in the ESDP context. Crisis management procedures are being developed that should guarantee quick, effective and coherent decision-making in Petersberg tasks-type situations. CME02 will be used to evaluate and refine these crisis management procedures in the light of the experience gained during the exercise.
The EU exercise programme covers the period 2001-2006, with a sequence of exercises designed to ensure appropriate readiness and efficient functioning in a crisis management situation. The exercises are designed to ensure the EU structures, procedures – including consultation with the UN – and arrangements are properly tested and validated in order to ensure appropriate readiness and efficient functioning in a Petersberg Task-type crisis. The EU does not intend to engage in military field exercises.