Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013
43. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on progress made during the Irish EU Presidency on supporting crisis management operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36189/13]
View answerDuring Ireland's Presidency of the EU, our main objective in the area of the Common Security and Defence Policy was to support the European External Action Service and the High Representative in their work in responding to crises as they arose. Two new CSDP Missions were launched during the first half of 2013: the European Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) and the EU Border Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya).
EUTM Mali was launched in February for the purpose of supporting the training and reorganisation of the Malian Armed Forces. Eight members of the Defence Forces have been deployed to EUTM Mali. EUBAM Libya was launched in May to support the Libyan authorities in improving and developing the security of Libya's borders. In addition to the ten individuals already deployed with EU civilian CSDP Missions, Ireland deployed three further people to EU CSDP Missions in the first half of 2013. The Missions involved were in Afghanistan (EUPOL Afghanistan), Georgia (EUMM Georgia) and the regional maritime training mission in the Horn of Africa and the Western Indian Ocean (EUCAP Nestor).
We also sought to support the work of the High Representative in preparing for the European Council discussion on defence issues in December by hosting a series of informal meetings at Ministerial and official level. We cooperated with the European Parliament and the European External Action Service in the organisation of a conference on the role of the EU as peacemaker and mediator. A seminar on cooperation between regional organisations and the UN in the areas of crisis management, peace support and peace enforcement operations was organised under the aegis of my colleague, the Minister for Defence. These meetings allowed member States to exchange views on how to strengthen CSDP and how to improve the availability of the required military capabilities for international crisis management. I hope that the outcome of these discussions will assist the High Representative in developing proposals and actions on which she is due to report in September.
Work undertaken during our Presidency on developing a new set of Crisis Management Procedures aimed at streamlining the process of planning and deploying CSDP Missions in the future is close to finalisation. In the area of EU-UN cooperation, good progress was made on the Plan of Action aimed at enhancing EU CSDP support to UN peacekeeping. In January, a contract to establish a warehouse capable of delivering warehoused assets at short notice to CSDP Missions was signed.
