John Gormley
Ceist:33 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Defence if he will report on the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers on 18 and 19 March 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12387/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 21 April 2005
Ceisteanna (44)
Freagraí scríofa
Unfortunately, due to illness, I was unable to attend the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers convened by the Luxembourg Presidency and the Secretary General of my Department attended in my place.
As previously reported to the House, these meetings provide a useful forum for Ministers to exchange views on the continued development of the European security and defence policy, ESDP, in particular the development of EU capabilities to carry out Petersberg Task operations and to ensure that the work on headline goal 2010 may be completed within the UK Presidency.
The first item on the agenda was a discussion on the situation in the western Balkans and Operation Althea. The operational commander gave a brief on the current situation and the Secretary General High Representative Solana expressed satisfaction with the conduct of Operation Althea to date, mentioning, in particular, co-operation with the international tribunal where 11 people had surrendered.
Discussions then turned to the various aspects of military capabilities development, particularly in relation to the rapid response elements — battle groups — concept.
The situation in Sudan and the contribution of the EU to the AU operation in Darfur was also discussed. Up to one third of the 750 military observers, foreseen as part of the new UN operation that will monitor implementation of the N-S Naivasha Accord, are expected to come from EU member states. At the same time, the EU will continue to provide support to the AU operation in Darfur.
The disaster following the tsunami in south-east Asia was then discussed. Many member states had supplied capabilities on an individual country basis in response to the tsunami. The challenge now is to see how the EU could respond collectively in a co-ordinated and structure manner. Secretary General High Representative Solana set out the general parameters for the military role that ESDP could play in the type of scenario presented by the Asian tsunami, in support of the EU's overall response to such disasters and in support of the civilian emergency disaster response elements.
Question No. 34 answered with QuestionNo. 25.