9.2. The European Security and Defence College (Dirk Dubois

9.2. THE EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENCE COLLEGE (ESDC)

by Dirk Dubois

Since its modest inception in 2005 as a network of civilian and military training providers, the European Security and Defence College has significantly expanded its activities, both in terms of the number of training activities, areas covered and output in terms of trained people. As the only provider of common security and defence policy related training at the EU level, ESDC is quickly becoming a well-recognised brand in the field of training. On the 1 September 2020, the ESDC counted 189 training and education providers from all 28 Member States1 and from intergovernmental organisations and third countries.

Visualization of the ESDC network.

1 The UK members were granted the status of ANP on the date the UK left the EU.

Over the past decade, the number of activities organised by the college has continuously increased. This is the result of a number of factors playing a role. First and above all, there is an increasing requirement from the EU Member States and from the EU Institutions and agen-

cies to have common education and training on specialised domains. The business model applied by the ESDC increasingly convinced these stakeholders that the College provides a flexible and cost-effective answer to these requirements. The business model applied is a pooling and sharing approach, where all Member States on a voluntary basis contribute to the ESDC training offers and send participants. A small part of the organisational cost of the courses is co-financed by the ESDC through a grant received from the CFSP budget, but the brunt of the effort is still borne by the Member States. A second aspect that plays an important role is that the ESDC, as an organisation embedded within the European External Action Services also contributes the public diplomacy efforts of the EU through its training efforts in the European neighbourhood (Eastern partnership countries and Western Balkans), with courses dedicated to specific regions (Latin-American and ASEAN countries) and even with China. For these courses, the ESDC works closely together with the responsible regional desks and crisis management structures from the EEAS and with the relevant Commission services.

Despite all these activities and tasks, the number of people on the ESDC pay-list as well as the annual budget remains limited. In order to achieve this, from the very beginning, the network has relied on active use of dedicated or offthe-shelf IT solutions to automate the adminis-

trative processes. At the same time, the ESDC promotes amongst its network members modern approaches to training through the exchange of best practices. From the very beginning distance learning, flipped classrooms and blended learning have been a part of all of our courses.

From an organisational point of view, the ESDC structure contains four elements. The training providers are represented in the Executive Academic Board, which is responsible for the quality of the ESDC’s training activities. They are under the political guidance of the ESDC’s Steering Com-

Number of ESDC activities per academic year: evolution from 2011 to 2020

ESDC organisational structure

mittee, where the Member States provide political guidance, determine the overall direction of the College and set priorities. The day-to-day management of the College is in the hands of the Head of the ESDC, who is the sole legal representative of the ESDC. The training managers in the ESDC secretariat provide assistance to all these elements, but more importantly play a key role in the organisation of the training activities in close cooperation with the training institutions in the network. At the same time, through their experience and expertise, the training managers often work closely together with the different topical and regional desks in the EEAS and the EU Institutions.

In as early as 2008, the Ministers of Defence of the Member States entrusted ESDC with the implementation of the European Initiative for the Exchange of Young Officers, inspired by Erasmus.

Over the years, several other tasks were assigned to the ESDC. In order to address these tasks, the Steering Committee agreed to create different configurations of the Executive Academic Board. In September 2020, the EU Military Secondary Schools Forum was created as a seventh configuration. This allows the college to address complicated tasks quickly and effectively at the correct level and still maintain a correct overview at the top. Over the years, several procedures ensured that the structure remained sound and flexible, ending the life of certain configurations when they were no longer relevant and creating new ones when necessary.

With the adoption of the EU training policy on the CSDP in April 2017 and the related implementation guideline, the ESDC received official recognition as a central player in this field. As a permanent participant in both the civilian and military training groups, the college plays a key role in ensuring that the two groups remain aligned and that the civilian-military aspects are covered. Thus, the ESDC can promote whenever possible joint civilian-military training to ensure that the EU’s integrated approach starts straightaway from the participants from the EU institutions, the Member States and the other stakeholders that come into contact with the CSDP/ CFSP. When the Member States requested financial support for the work of the civilian training coordinators, the ESDC immediately offered its administrative services to manage these funds on behalf of the Commission. For 2019, the ESDC budget provided the necessary funds without increasing the already agreed reference amount, while for 2020 the budget was increased to cover the additional costs. 2020 will be an important year for the College, as it will celebrate its 15th anniversary, and it is the year The task-oriented configurations of the Executive Academic Board in which a new Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/1515 will be prepared. This Decision should provide the legal basis for the near future. At the same time, in view of the ESDC’s track record, 2020 should also be the year in which we should think about the longer term future of the College as a tool for the benefit of Member States and the European Union. Whatever happens, however, we intend to be part of the solution and not the challenges!