John Gormley
Question:18 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Defence if he will report on the recent meeting of EU Defence Ministers on 19 November 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26093/02]
Written Answers. - Council of Ministers Meeting.
Ciarán Cuffe
Question:22 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Defence if the meeting of EU Defence Ministers in November 2002 discussed the preparedness of the EU's rapid reaction force; if the relationship between the NATO rapid reaction force and the EU's rapid reaction force was discussed and clarified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26099/02]
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:59 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence if he has had further discussions with NATO or EU authorities in preparation for the formation of a European rapid response force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26228/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18, 22 and 59 together.
I attended the General Affairs and External Relations Council re-inforced by EU Defence Ministers in Brussels on 19 November, 2002. In accordance with the mandate of the European Council at Seville, the Presidency had taken forward work to promote the development of military and civilian capabilities for crisis management within the framework of ESDP. The Council underlined the importance of ensuring co-ordination of the EU's civilian and military crisis management instruments in order to be able to respond effectively to a crisis. In this respect the Council welcomed the action plan for the further strengthening of civil-military co-ordination in EU crisis management to be completed before the end of the Greek Presidency.
The Council considered all relevant aspects of the development of the EU headline goal as well as the development of concepts and procedures concerning the rapid response elements of the headline goal, common training, and the Mediterranean dimension.
The Council welcomed the political and security committee progress report on military capabilities, including the European capability action plan, ECAP, which invites the member states to take appropriate decisions on how to implement the future achievement of capabilities from the range of options proposed. It noted that the overall assessment, drawn from the intermediate reports from the ECAP panels, was encouraging, taking into account that 19 panels are currently considering most of the significant shortfalls in capabilities to be remedied.
Final reports from all ECAP panels are required by 1 March 2003. This will serve to evaluate the military implications of each proposed option, to examine whether further interim options are required to fill potential gaps, to study whether any further solutions are possible, and finally to identify whether any remaining shortfalls impose constraints or limitations on the delivery of the headline goal.
The Council agreed on the need to give further political impetus and to consider appropriate measures for streamlining financing, procurement and all other defence policy aspects of military capabilities that could be used in support of the ECAP process.
The Council noted that work has continued to develop the procedures and concepts concerning the rapid response elements of the headline goal, as well as to ensure the improvement of command and control arrangements for national and multi-national headquarters, to facilitate an efficient and timely response to a crisis. It confirmed the need for the enhancement of the Union's capability to react to a crisis requiring rapid response particularly for humanitarian and rescue tasks, which will require accelerated decision making and deployment. The Council welcomed progress to date and agreed to task the PSC and the EU military committee (EUMC) to finalise the work on rapid response elements as soon as possible. In this context, the Council requested the Greek Presidency to prepare a progress report with special emphasis on EU military rapid response in the overall context of EU crisis management.
The Council welcomed the initiative of the Presidency on common training at different levels and underlined its importance for the improvement of interoperability and the further enhancement of a European security culture under the ESDP. Substantial progress on this aspect of common training will also facilitate close co-operation with relevant initiatives in the civilian field.
The Council expressed satisfaction with the ongoing efforts to further develop the Mediterranean dimension of ESDP. The Council agreed on the need for further regular dialogue with the Mediterranean partners in order to enhance transparency and further strengthen mutual understanding on ESDP and explore more concrete ideas and proposals for co-operation.
Terrorism in general and the proposed NATO rapid response force were topics for discussion during the Defence Ministers lunch. Due to the short time available and the informal nature of the limited number of exchanges which took place these issues were not discussed in any depth and no conclusions were arrived at.