The European Security and Defence Policy

The ESDP originated in 1999 in the recognition that EU foreign policy positions will have an international effect only if they are backed up by political, economic and, if necessary, military means. The Union has a comparative advantage over other European and transatlantic organisations in that it already has a broad range of non-military stabilising instruments that it can use for conflict prevention and crisis management. By 2003 these will be supplemented by a military capacity, preparations for which made important progress in 2001.

At the Capabilities Improvement Conference held in Brussels on 19 November all the EU member states except Denmark (which had made use of the "opting out" clause) agreed to qualitative and quantitative improvements to their already promised commitments to the ESDP Headline Goal as well as the Collective Capability Goals. The EU therefore has a good chance of being able to handle all of the Petersberg Tasks by the target date of 2003, although additional efforts will be required to undertake the more complex operations at the top end of the Petersberg spectrum. A voluntary action plan was adopted to close the existing gaps, primarily as regards strategic capabilities in the areas of command, control, communication and information, strategic intelligence and large transport aircraft.

Austria is not participating in any multinational project, but as a national project will provide the command structure for a light infantry brigade by 2005. The six European non-EU NATO states and the EU candidate countries will also make important contributions. The development of these capacities will be monitored by an EU Capabilities Development Mechanism, and an EU-NATO mechanism will ensure coherence between parallel activities. The rate of implementation of the action plan will depend on the financial allocations of the EU members, not all of whom have increased their military budgets accordingly.

The standing ESDP institutions (the Political and Security Committee, the Military Committee and the Military Staff) attained their final form during the first half of 2001, followed by the establishment of a joint military and civilian Situation Centre. The EU defence ministers, who since the Austrian EU presidency have met informally at least every half year, have expressed a wish to be able to meet formally. The possibility was raised for the first time at the Council of Ministers on 19 November, and a decision is expected during the first half of 2002. A system of cooperation between the national military intelligence services was inaugurated in order to improve the EU's crisis management capability. The WEU satellite centre near Madrid and the Institute for Security Studies in Paris were transferred to the EU as from 1 January 2002. Representatives of national parliaments attended two meetings held on the initiative of the Belgian EU presidency to discuss the parliamentary dimension of the ESDP.

Cooperation with NATO

A strategic partnership between the EU and NATO is an important precondition for the success of the ESDP. Consultations between both organisations continued in 2001 on crisis management as well as issues of security and defence policy. Practical cooperation on the ground, primarily in the Balkans, remained highly satisfactory. Definitive agreement is still awaited on the exchange of confidential documents for crisis management purposes and on assured access by the EU to predetermined NATO facilities and capacities. To date, agreements on both have been blocked by Turkey, which wants to restrict access to existing EU members - a step that would exclude the forthcoming EU member Cyprus - and is linking this to a conclusion of the so-called Berlin+ Agreement. The United Kingdom made intensive efforts to induce Turkey to abandon its blockade policy. In June Turkey rejected a paper on the third-state arrangements agreed in Nice, but a new "Ankara Paper" submitted by the UK in autumn contained substantial concessions to the Turkish position like a quasi-participation right in autonomous EU operations with no NATO elements in the geographical vicinity of Turkey. This document was approved by all the EU members except Greece, which entered an objection to it at the European Council in Laeken in December.

Otherwise, the consultation and cooperation process with the six European non-EU NATO members and the EU candidate countries developed positively. The dialogue with Canada, Russia and Ukraine also intensified. In view of President Putin's stronger Western orientation after the terrorist attacks on September 11 both the EU and NATO endeavoured to build a new relationship with Russia on matters of security policy.

The Operational Capability of the EU

The European Council in Laeken declared that the EU is now capable of conducting some crisis management operations. Civilian humanitarian actions and military operations under qualified "lead nations" (e.g. the UK or France) would be an immediate possibility. In order to handle more difficult operations covering the entire Petersberg spectrum it will, however, be necessary to implement the European Capability Action Plan (ECAP) to close the gaps in military capacities, conclude the cooperation agreements with NATO and apply the third -state arrangements. Only when cooperation with NATO is functioning will a comprehensive EU operational capacity be achieved.

The strengths of the EU by comparison with those of NATO enable it to use its economic, financial and political power for the purposes of conflict prevention and international crisis management. The European Council in Feira in June 2000 also decided to develop capacities in the fields of policing, the rule of law, civil administration and civil defence, in order to strengthen peace and stability internationally. The planned pool of 5,000 police officers will be available from 2003, after the EU ministers for home affairs on 19 November agreed on the respective national contributions. Some 1,400 of the total are to be available in a crisis area within 30 days. Austria will contribute 110 police personnel to the pool. A further pool of 200 experts is under consideration as a means of strengthening the rule of law; Austria will contribute 10 prison officers here. The process of identifying EU capacities in civil administration and civil defence is still continuing.

One of the consequences of the terrorist attacks on September 11 is the acceptance of the ESDP by the United States. The US is interested in strengthening European capacities and in harmonious cooperation between the EU and NATO, in order to reduce its commitments in Europe and concentrate its attention on combating terrorism. On the other hand, there is unlikely to be a consensus on extending the agenda of the ESDP to countering terrorism. With the activation of Art. 5 of the Washington Treaty after the events of September 11 NATO made it clear that the terrorist threat is a matter of collective defence. On the basis of the British-French compromise in St. Malo, which is also mentioned in the decisions on the ESDP taken in Helsinki, collective defence remains the prerogative of NATO.