John Gormley
Question:80 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Defence if he will report on the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Athens on 14 March 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8997/03]
Written Answers - Official Engagements.
John Gormley
Question:89 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Defence the discussions which were held on Iraq at the EU Defence Ministers meeting in Athens on 14 March 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8998/03]
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:91 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the discussions he has had with his EU counterparts in relation to national and European defence and security issues in the wake of recent international developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8981/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 89 and 91 together.
I welcome the opportunity to report to the House on discussions which took place at the informal meeting of Defence Ministers held in Greece on 14 and 15 March last. A number of such informal meetings have been held in recent years. The meetings have been a useful forum for promoting dialogue between Defence Ministers in the context of the development of ESDP structures.
While the thrust of the agenda in Greece related to progressing ESDP, the meeting took place against the background of the deepening crisis in relation to Iraq which has subsequently led to war. The Iraqi crisis was the subject of a discussion held in closed session at the meeting. While I do not wish to breach the confidentiality of the discussion, the national positions of the various member states have been well publicised. In the current climate, it is crucial that those with differing opinions and viewpoints on this very serious crisis maintain continued dialogue.
This year is an important year for ESDP as it is the target date for achieving the Helsinki headline goal, namely, the development of a capability to deploy within 60 days, and sustain for at least one year, up to 60,000 persons capable of carrying out Petersberg task operations, namely, crisis management operations, peace support operations and humanitarian tasks. Deputies will be aware that much progress has already been achieved at EU level in relation to the development of the headline goal capabilities. The focus of our discussion in this respect was the modalities for filling some outstanding capability shortfalls. In this regard, Ministers concluded that a pragmatic way forward is to establish project groups to deal with each of the most important shortfalls and with a view towards achieving some further progress before a capabilities conference, which will be held in Brussels in May. As with all aspects of ESDP, the conclusions in this regard recognise the voluntary nature of ESDP.
Other subjects discussed were an initiative of the Greek Presidency in relation to consultations with the European Commission to generate a dialogue on the defence industry among member states. The Presidency also provided updates in relation to their initiative to host a workshop, in conjunction with the EU Commission, regarding the Commission's Green Paper on space. The Presidency also reported on its initiative to develop a common training programme for civilian and military staff dealing with ESDP issues.
Question No. 81 answered with Question No. 62.