Informal meeting of the defence ministers: significant advances on several dossiers
- On: 02.10.2008
- In: Deauville
In their working sessions the EU's defence ministers reviewed the military operations conducted by the European Union and various capacity projects.
In the context of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Hervé Morin, the French defence minister, invited his 26 EU counterparts, Javier Solana, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the European Commission to a two-day working meeting from 1-2 October in Deauville. This meeting illustrates France’s desire, in line with the aims of the French President, to revive Europe’s defence policy.
1) The defence ministers reviewed the military operations conducted by the European Union and considered that:
- the EUFOR operation in Chad and the Central African Republic has managed to restore security for refugees, displaced persons and humanitarian organisations. Mr Morin proposed to his counterparts that they meet together in Chad on 22 November next.
- the ‘Althea’ military mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina has fulfilled its tasks, paving the way for a different type of European presence. Among the various options studied, consideration was given to a military education and training mission.
- the planning of an EU military naval operation to fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia will be accelerated.
2) To respond to the needs for increased, robust, flexible and interoperable European military resources, Hervé Morin obtained the agreement of his counterparts on several specific initiatives.
- European helicopters would be overhauled and their pilots trained to be deployed to the most demanding theatres of operations. Financial and in-kind commitments were made. Morin announced a French financial contribution of 5 million euros to this initiative, which brings the total of France’s contribution to around 8 million euros.
- A multinational air transport fleet will be established, initially revolving around the A400M aircraft, to increase the EU’s air transport resources.
- A European air and sea group could be set up, in case of need, for military naval interventions. This would consist of an aircraft carrier and all the escort and support vehicles, which would be interoperable.
- New military capacities for spatial observation will complement European’s means of gathering information. Several military satellites will supply images to the European Union Satellite Centre. The new generation of satellites will be developed in European cooperation.
- In the area of armaments, the role of the European Defence Agency will be reinforced, notably with regard to conducting European armaments and research programmes. The defence ministers supported the creation of a real internal market for defence to encourage the consolidation of the European industry.
- Existing European forces will be made more reactive. The need to deploy them in operations was emphasised, in particular for the BG 1500 forces.
3) The defence minister also obtained the agreement of his counterparts on the proposals aimed at European citizens.
- The coordination of operations to evacuate EU nationals will be increased to strengthen the protection of European citizens throughout the world.
- Military contributions to maritime surveillance will be consolidated to respond to intensified illicit trafficking and acts of piracy. The minister’s proposal to create a European maritime surveillance network received support.
- Exchanges between young European officers will be developed through an initiative inspired by the ERASMUS programme.
4) In the margin of the meeting, Hervé Morin organised a debate between all the defence ministers and pupils and students on the topic of European defence policy. These fresh and direct exchanges allowed these young Europeans to express their expectations for an EU that would ensure their security.
Video of the press conference of 2 October (FR)
Interview with Hervé Morin, French Minister for Defence (Video, FR)
Interview with Alexander Weis, the Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (Video, FR)
EU defence ministers meeting with second and third-level students (video)
Informal meeting of the defence ministers: focus on the reinforcement of military capabilities (Announcement)
Audio, video and photo archive
- Updated: 28.10.2008
