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Further Reading

European Union

Following decisions taken by the European Union heads of state and government at the Helsinki and Nice European Councils in December 1999 and in December 2000, new and tailor-made structures in the military and political areas are being set up in Brussels to enable decision-making in crisis situations. At the Helsinki European Council meeting, the political objective set at Cologne was reflected in the adoption of concrete objectives concerning the creation of European forces that are credible, available and effective. Under this objective (known as the "Helsinki Headline Goal"), the Member States undertook to be able to

1. deploy rapidly (within 60 days) and
2. sustain (for at least one year)
3. military forces capable of the full range of Petersberg tasks as set out in the Amsterdam Treaty [humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping, and crisis management - including peace-making], including those which would require
4. significant forces of up to corps level (up to 15 brigades, or 50 000 to 60 000 persons).

The Member States must also be able to deploy smaller rapid response elements with very high readiness. These forces must be self-sustaining, with the necessary command, control and intelligence capabilities, logistics, other combat support services and additionally, as appropriate, air and naval elements. The Member States of the European Union have also established common capability goals (command and control, reconnaissance and strategic transport).

European Union Sealift

The European Union study on strategic transport requirements was conducted in the case of a scenario of "separation of the parties by force", for a force of 60 000 troops in a theatre of operations 4 000 km from Brussels. About 160 rotations of ships are needed in order to transport all the equipment. To keep to the period of 60 days, in the knowledge that the first unloading in the zone can only take place one month after the decision has been taken, about 80 ships have to be used, each carrying out two rotations. Here can be seen a difficulty associated with the possibility of chartering in such a short period of time such a large number of RoRo ships. The hypotheses made on the unloading capacities of the ports in the theatre of operations, namely four ships a day, are inadequate. It would be necessary to unload more than 150 ships in a month, that is five to six ships a day, and handle 1 800 containers/day. Port capacities such as this are very rarely found in potential crisis zones.

Only some European countries possess naval vessels suitable for strategic transport; these are largely vessels with amphibious capacities called LPDs (Landing Platform Docks). Europe will have about twenty ships of this type14, of which on average twelve, which could be available in the event of a crisis, have been proposed by the countries in the catalogue of contributions to the Helsinki Headline Goal. The displacement of these ships, ranging from 7 500 to 22 000 tonnes fully loaded, is still very modest compared with the giants of the American fleet which has a large number of 40 000 tonne ships.

Moreover, the navies have cargo supply ships, landing ship logistics (LSLS) or civilian type Roll on/Roll off (RoRo) ships that can be used to transport the logistic of the forward units before calling on ships chartered from civilian companies. The only navy really equipped with ships of this type is the British Royal Navy in the form of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which currently has three 24 000-tonne RoRo ships. It should also be borne in mind that the Royal Navy has recently commissioned a dedicated helicopter assault ship, HMS Ocean, which can put a Marine Commando ashore without port facilities.

Given the size of the maritime transport capacities necessary for sending a force of 60 000 troops in two months, namely about 80 RoRo type ships simultaneously, the chartering of civilian assets on the international market is indispensable as no European country can provide the assets needed for sending its own contribution to such a force.

RoRos are well suited for this task due to the speed with which they can be loaded/unloaded and the limited amount of lifting gear they need, but they are limited in number and the number of RoRos worldwide is diminishing in favour of container ships. Severe difficulties on the chartering market in the event of a crisis must therefore be expected. As far as the other types of ship are concerned, experience shows that there are no problems.

A market study on the chartering of RoRos carried out in March/April 2001, outside the holiday period, showed that it could be hoped to have about fifty RoRos available, without having studied on a case-by-case basis their real availability. This number is already very much lower than the 84 RoRos required for the EU headline goal. The availability of RoRos on the international market is a limiting factor in the ability of the Europeans to meet the goal of sending forces defined at Helsinki.

Also, the port capacities in the theatre of operations can be a very serious bottleneck. During the Kosovo crisis, the use of the port of Thessaloniki, although very well equipped, but largely used for the normal traffic remaining a priority, caused delays and limited the flow. The studies show the need to handle 5-6 RoRos a day in order to meet the objective of sending EU forces, which is far from being guaranteed if one looks at the existing infrastructures around potential crisis areas.

It should be noted that the military and defence dimension of the EU does not include territorial defence. The Defence commitment in Article 5 in the Western European Union Treaty was not taken over by the EU when other Western European Union functions were subsumed in the EU at the beginning of 2002. Yet a number of other aspects of broader security concern are increasingly on the agenda of the EU institutions, particularly after September 11.

In practice, preventing conflicts and managing crises requires a combination of civilian and military instruments. The EU member states for example decided at the European Council in Lisbon in June 2000, to be able by 2003 to provide up to 5000 police officers for international missions.

On 11 April 2001, the European Commission adopted a set of recommendations to improve the EU's civilian conflict prevention capabilities. In November 2001 the Commission adopted a communication on the financing of civilian crisis management operations.

Relevant policy areas in this field include: security of supply and energy stock reserves, the Single European Sky, GALILEO, protection of critical infrastructure, cybercrime, air transport and aircraft security.

The Commission participates in the Boards of the European Union Institute for Security Studies and the European Union Satellite Centre, both taken over from existing Western European Union (WEU) structures and being integrated into ESDP. Commission participation is also of relevance as regards the obligation to ensure close collaboration between its Joint Research Centre and the Satellite Centre and coherence with the European strategy for Space endorsed by the Council on 16 November 2000.

The Amsterdam Treaty introduced the new office of a High Representative (HR) for CFSP. The office is fused with that of Council Secretary General. The HR "shall assist the Council in matters coming within the scope of the CFSP, in particular through contributing to the formulation, preparation and implementation of policy decisions, and, when appropriate and acting on behalf of the Council at the request of the Presidency, through conducting political dialogue with third countries". The HR assists the Presidency in the external representation of the EU and assists the Council in the implementation of policy decisions in CFSP matters. Mr Javier Solana was appointed as first HR and took office on 18 October 1999.

A Policy Planning and Early Warning Unit has been set up within the Council Secretariat. Its mandate includes monitoring, analysis and assessment of international developments and events, including early warning on potential crises. It drafts policy options, which may contain recommendations and strategies for presentation to the Council under the responsibility of the Presidency. The Commission seconds one member of the Policy Unit staff. The High Representative is also assisted by the Council Secretariat.

The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) is composed of the Chiefs of Defence represented by their military representatives. The EUMC is responsible for providing the PSC with military advice and recommendations on all military matters within the EU. It exercises military direction of all military activities within the EU framework, including the European Union Military Staff. The Chairman of the EUMC attends meetings of the Council when decisions with defence implications are to be taken.

The European Union Military Staff (EUMS) within the Council structures provides military expertise and support to the CESDP, including the conduct of EU-led military crisis management operations. It performs early warning, situation assessment and strategic planning for Petersberg tasks including identification of European national and multinational forces and implementation of policies and decisions as directed by the EUMC. The Politico-Military Group examines the politico-military aspects of all proposals within the framework of the CFSP.

The Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management gives advice on the political aspects of non-military crisis management, conflict prevention etc. It has given priority in its work to implementing the specific target for policing. It has dealt with strengthening the rule of law, with a view to setting specific targets in that area.

Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty was signed by the 27 European Union Member States on 13 December 2007. For the Treaty to enter into force, all of the EU countries must approve it in accordance with their national procedures. A key aim of the Lisbon Treaty is to modernise the institutions that run the EU's business and makes them more democratic.

A new position of High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy/Vice- President of the Commission will be created in order to promote the EU action on the international scene and to be better able to defend its interests and values abroad. To drive forward its work on a continuous and consistent basis, the European Council will elect a President of the European Council for a maximum of five years. This will make the EU's actions more visible and consistent. The President of the Commission will be 'elected' by the European Parliament, on proposal from the European Council

In the Council of Ministers, qualified majority voting, instead of unanimous decisions, will be extended. This will help to make action faster and more effi cient. Qualified majority voting means that, from 2014, decisions of the Council of Ministers will need the support of 55 % of the Member States, representing at least 65 % of the European population. But important policy areas such as taxation and defence will continue to require a unanimous vote.

The Lisbon Treaty spells out more clearly the EU's role in the area of common foreign and security policy. Decisions on defence issues will continue to need unanimous approval of the 27 EU Member States. Missions which the EU has undertaken outside its own territory have been for the purpose of peacekeeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in the context of the United Nations Charter. The Lisbon Treaty extends the EU's role to include disarmament operations, military advice and assistance, and helping to restore stability after conflicts. It also creates the possibility of enhanced cooperation between Member States that wish to work together more closely in the area of defence.

The Lisbon Treaty provides that Member States will make available to the EU the civil and military capability necessary to implement the common security and defence policy and sets out the role of the European Defence Agency. It introduces a solidarity clause (of a voluntary nature) when a Member State is the victim of a terrorist attack or a natural or man-made disaster.