THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
The foundation of interoperability is mutual confidence Interview with Lieutenant General Jürgen Weigt, Commanding General EUROCORPS, Strasbourg
T
he European: General, for six months now you have been the Commanding General of this first multinational European Army Corps, established in 1992 to respond to the new political situation in Europe and to be an instrument for the EU and its Security and Defence Policy. There is no contradiction in your parallel availability for NATO, but what is EUROCORPS’ role or purpose in the “European Defence Action Plan”? Jürgen Weigt: Belonging to five Framework Nations (Germany, France, Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg) and being reinforced with contingents from five other associated Nations (Italy, Poland, Turkey, Romania and Greece) make EUROCORPS the most integrated multinational HQ in Europe. Moreover, the above-mentioned Nations are already positioned as major actors in the defence of Europe. The European: What does this mean in political and operational terms? Jürgen Weigt: This means that EUROCORPS is in essence a tool of primary interest for these Nations as far as they are in-
52
volved together in future projects connected to the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Considering that NATO is also guaranteeing European security, EUROCORPS’ duality (as an element of the NATO Force Structure on the one hand and as “preferred military tool” for the EU on the other) is an additional important feature for the HQ to become a key stakeholder in a re-invigorated European defence. Looking at the 17 projects linked to PESCO, all those related to the Command & Control structure offer new opportunities for EUROCORPS to be used further in an EU framework. As a permanently ready, fully and autonomously deployable HQ, EUROCORPS could easily and efficiently complement the EU chain of command, thus making it comprehensive and fully operational at any time for C2 large scale operations at strategic distance (up to 5000 km). The European: The headquarters of EUROCORPS are proof of its operational capabilities through several successful engagements. A contingent was recently engaged in Central Africa. In each mission, your leaders and your troops had to cooperate with other units from Nations all over the world. Is interoperability an essential mechanism for effectiveness on the field?
photot: © Bastian Koob/Eurocorps
“We cannot reduce interoperability to a mechanism”
