SECURITY AND DEFENCE
The multitude of missions and budget constraints risk overstretching the EU’s military capabilities
The CSDP − the way ahead by Françoise Hostalier MP, Paris and Jean-Pierre Kucheida MP, Paris (Edit.) The so-called “legacy report” is the ninth in a series of documents on European security and defence policy to be produced by the European Security and Defence Assembly was its last report before the final closure of WEU at the end of June 2011. These highly appreciated reports of delegated members from national parliaments, brought together in the Defence Committees of the Assembly, had a certain influence on decisions of the national parliaments and in the different Institution of the European Union however they couldn’t help to make a real breakthrough either in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) nor in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) toward to more coherent decision making, adapted to the needs.
Europe is not willing to take coherent decisions on security and defence Today, unfortunately, events seemed to have proved us right: Europe is unable to take a coherent decision on political, humanitarian and military action in response to the bloody battles for freedom being waged by peoples of the Maghreb and Middle East. We seem to have learned nothing from our recent and painful history: the Balkan wars, Sarajevo, Srebrenica … Today, 15 years on, when the going gets tough, we still take refuge behind the NATO banner. Our report describes the current structures and procedures that exist under the CSDP and proposes ambitions for a European defence. It suggests certain improvements in terms of institutions and defence capabilities and reviews those areas of the CSDP where European cooperation needs to be stepped up.
There is no director to conduct the European “orchestra” in CSDP As far as institutions are concerned, the structures and procedures exist already: the Political and Security Committee (PSC), the EU Military Staff (EU-MS, the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European External Action Service (EEAS). But there is no-one to conduct the orchestra: there is, in other words, no operational headquarters to provide the coordination that is essential in order to guarantee the necessary responsiveness in the event of a crisis. We describe the permanent operational cooperation that gives Europe access to military capabilities that directly match its requirements or can be adapted as necessary: the Euroforces and the battlegroups 1500, as well as bilateral cooperation initiatives among European states (e.g. the recent FrancoBritish Treaty and the German-Swedish agreement).
Françoise Hostalier MP Françoise Hostalier was born in Beauvais. She holds a master’s degree in mathematics 1993 to 1995 Member of the French Parliament. 1995 Secretary of State to the Minister of National Education. Formerly head of the Popular Party for French Democracy (PPDF) and Vice-President of the Liberal Democracy (DL) party, she is now a member of the National Bureau of the Radical Party and the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). 2007 elected under UMP as a Member of Parliament. Member of the National Defence and Armed Forces Committee. Rapporteur on behalf of the Defence Committee of ESDA. 2009 Vice President of the French-Afghan Friendship Group of the National Assembly.
Jean Pierre Kucheida MP Jean-Pierre Kucheida was born in Lievin on 24 February 1943. A specialist in geography, he taught at the Lycee Henri Darras Liévin. Since 1981 continuously elected as Member of Parliament of the 12th District of Pas-de-Calais. 1981 to 2001 Mayor of Lievin and a Member of the General Council of Pas-de-Calais (1981 to 1988), 1995 to 1997 Questeur of the National Assembly. A Member of the Finance Committee, Mr. Kucheida is Vice President of the study group on the development of social and healthy living, and Rapporteur on budget appropriations for fisheries. He is Chairman of the Defence Committee of the ESDA.
As regards defence equipment and the armaments industry, we describe the difficulties of cooperation among European states and the role of the European Defence Agency, which remains too limited. The EDA, which has a too small operating budget, should become a tool for harmonising and rationalising efforts in the field of defence equipment at European level, in order to enable Europe to assert itself against the United States’ dominance in the field of future technologies and dumping by countries with emerging defence industries. The European states are sovereign, of course, but they must understand the urgency of reaching agreement among themselves on these issues, for the threats are very real.
How to prepare for the future? Our report suggests a number of avenues to be explored in order to define the aims and ambitions of the CSDP. The most legitimate of its ambitions is to guarantee peace for
27
