3 minute read
Harald Gell
by Harald Gell
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Photo: Theresan Military Academy
42nd meeting of the Military Erasmus (EMILYO) Implementation Group in Austria in 2019
In November 2008, the European Union Ministers for Defence decided in their Council conclusions on the ESDP – during the 2903rd Council Meeting on General Affairs and External Relations – to establish an Implementation Group for the European initiative for the exchange of young officers inspired by Erasmus, tasked with harmonising European Union basic officer education, increasing interoperability and promoting a European security and defence culture among future military leaders. The Implementation Group is a project-focused configuration of the Executive Academic Board, supported by the Secretariat of the European Security and Defence College.
Consisting of experts from basic officer education institutions, the Implementation Group develops opportunities and creates the conditions for exchanges of young officers during their initial education and
training. It uses existing exchange programmes – including civilian ones such as ERASMUS+ – as well as creating new avenues of approach for the purpose of strengthening the interoperability of the EU armed forces and – as a consequence – enhancing EU security within the framework of the CSDP.
The Implementation Group defines topic areas of problems which are to be solved to facilitate exchanges. These ‘lines of development’ focus on specific fields, such as the development of necessary competences for officers, regulations concerning administrative matters, how to pass information to the people who need it, and defining common modules considered by all EU Member States to be essential to the education of young officers. If these common modules are implemented in national curricula, then the European Union basic officer education will gradually be harmonised. By 2020, some 44 common modules worth 122.5 credits (ECTS) have been developed, which may cover more than four academic semesters.
Each year some 1700 officer cadets participate in common modules and international semesters, which are developed and organised by the Implementation Group – this tendency is increasing. The graphs on the next page illustrate the increasing number of training days over the years and number of events organised and offered by the Implementation Group.
A huge step forward was and still is the international Military Academic Forum (iMAF), which involves cooperation between five European Union basic officer education institutions, which hold annual conferences dedicated to future developments to further the aims of the Implementation Group. Various challenges are solved during these conferences, for instance: developing common modules, establishing international semesters for the Navy, the Air Force and in technical fields, financing exchanges and incorporating educational elements developed by the by 27
Photo: National Guard Cyprus
Common Module Military Leadership in Cyprus in 2019
Graphs created by the author
Increase in number of EMILYO training days and events per study year
EU Member States into national academic curricula, which are open to all EU Member States for participation.
The Implementation Group is driven by the central idea that exchanges of officer cadets between European basic officer education institutions will in itself create a European security and defence culture, and will thus enhance Europe’s security and defence capabilities.
SOURCES FOR MORE AND UPDATED INFORMATION
• Webpage: http://www.emilyo.eu • Webpage: http://www.maf-reichenau.at/ • European Education and Training for Young Officers – The European
Initiative for the Exchange of Young
Officers, inspired by Erasmus (Harald
Gell & Sylvain Paile-Calvo & Symeon
Zambas) available on http://www.emilyo.eu/node/1029 • iMAF 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 (Harald
Gell & Sylvain Paile-Calvo et. al.) available on http://www.emilyo.eu/node/1025
