92002E3874

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3874/02

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Council

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Improved European military resources for a greater margin of autonomy

It is clear that Europe now needs improved military resources if it is to achieve a greater margin of autonomy and successfully develop a purely European Rapid Intervention Force.

On the political level, one of the great challenges facing the EU concerns the effective creation of an area in which it can develop its own common security and defence policy, so as to ensure a certain guarantee threshold for the preservation of peace throughout Europe: this goal seems more important than any other, unrealisable objectives at world level.

Can the Council, in the context of its competences in the matter, provide information on its level of diagnostic capacity as regards a regular review of the Union's shortcomings vis-à-vis achievement of the objective of establishing a genuine and authentically European security and defence policy?

Reply

(21 July 2003)

The work conducted since the Helsinki European Council has enabled the European Union to define the variety of measures needed successfully to carry out the full range of Petersberg tasks, including the most demanding among these. The military capabilities and forces required by the EU to meet the headline goal have been spelt out in detail and are listed in a capability catalogue, which is regularly reviewed according to the principles approved at the Nice European Council.

Two Capabilities Commitment Conferences, one held under the French, the other under the Belgian Presidency, made it possible to draw together the specific national commitments corresponding to the military capability goals set by the Helsinki European Council. Member States committed themselves, on a voluntary basis, to making national contributions corresponding to the capabilities required to attain the headline goal. Those commitments have been set out in a forces catalogue. Analysis of that catalogue confirms that by 2003, in keeping with the headline goal established at Helsinki, the European Union will be able to carry out the full range of Petersberg tasks, but that certain capabilities need to be improved in both quantitative and qualitative terms in order to maximise the capabilities available to the Union.

Accordingly, at the Conference on Military Capability Improvement (CIC) held on 19 November 2001 Member States identified the remaining shortcomings and agreed on an action plan to remedy them. That plan is based on national decisions (a bottom-up approach) aimed at rationalising Member States' respective defence efforts and on increased synergy between national and multinational projects.