Observatory on European defence, July-August 2010

IN THE SPOTLIGHT : July 12, 2011
EU COUNCIL APPROVES THE NEW EDA’S STATUTE
The EU Council adopted the decision 2011/411/CFSP establishing the statute, headquarter (HQ) and operational rules of the European Defence Agency (Eda). The Eda’s primary mission is to support the efforts of EU Council and EU member States to enhance the EU crisis management defence capabilities and to sustain the current and future Common Security and Defence Policy. Eda has also other tasks, such as identifying the operational requirements of the armed forces and promoting actions to implement them; identifying and implementing any measure to strengthen the defence industrial base; contributing to the definition of an European policy on defence capability and armaments; supporting the Council in the evaluation of military capabilities. The Agency must develop its role without prejudices neither for the States nor for other Institutions’ competences.
The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, currently Catherine Ashton, has been confirmed as Eda’s president. It further provides that the EDA operates under the supervision of the EU Council, which unanimously approved both the guidelines and the Agency's annual budget. The Eda’s HQ has been confirmed in Bruxelles.

July 1 – August 31, 2011
NATO “UNIFIED PROTECTOR” OPERATION CONTINUES IN LIBYA
NATO has continued the operation “Unified Protector” in Libya, officially launched according to the UN Security Council Resolution 1973/2011. The attacks have continued against the logistic facilities of Gheddafi’s forces, such as fuel or vehicles depots, and against military facilities, such as missile sites as well as TV stations used for propaganda activities.

July 12, 2011
A NEW GENERAL DIRECTOR FOR THE COUNCIL GENERAL SECRETARIAT
The EU General Affairs Council has appointed the Italian Leonardo Schiavo as general director of the Council General Secretariat. The general director has to support the Council of Foreign Affairs, with competences in Enlargement, Humanitarian aid and Civil protection.

August 1-23, 2011
EU STRENGHTENS THE RESTRICTIVE MEASURES AGAINST SYRIA AND LYBIA, AND UPDATES THOSE AGAINST THE AFGHANS AFFILIATED TO THE TALIBANS
The EU Foreign Affairs Council has strengthened the restrictive measures against Syria, already established in May by the 2011/273/CFSP decision. Due to the current political situation in the country, the Council has decided to increase the entities affected by asset freeze and visa ban by a further twenty persons and five companies. On August 10 the Council extended the asset freeze against two other Libyan entities, amending the former Council decision 2011/137/CFSP adopted on February 28. This initiative lead to a whole of six port authorities, forty-nine societies and thirty-nine persons affected by assets freeze in EU and visa ban.
On August 1 the Council has updated the list of Afghan people and entities associated with the Talibans and affected by restrictive measures such as arms embargo, assets freeze and visa ban. The list dated back to 2002, and was updated according to UN Resolution 1988/2011 of June 17, 2011. Previously, on May 26, EU Council allocated 60.5 million euro to cover until July 31, 2012 the EUPOL Afghanistan police mission. The mission’s mandate will expire in 2013.

August 3-4, 2011
NEW EEAS OFFICERS
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton has appointed twenty-five EU heads of delegation: among these there are three Italians, Paola Amadei, Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi and Maria Spatolisano, heads of delegation in Jamaica, Tanzania and France respectively. There is also the French diplomat Laurence Argimon-Pistre, who was appointed head of delegation of the EU Representation in Italy. On August 4, Catherine Ashton appointed three new directors of EEAS. One of them is Fernando Gentilini, former senior adviser of EEAS, who will supervise the area of Western Europe, the Balkans and Turkey.

August 22-24, 2011
NEW TEST FOR NATO’S BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE
NATO tested the Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD), a system able to defend the Alliance’s forces from ballistic missile. The test is under the supervision of the General Alessandro Pera, and has involved German, Dutch and US units and NATO command and control centres of Uedem and Ramstein, in Germany. These units had to react to a simulated attack, providing responses based on tactical information shared between all the units involved in the drill. In the future ALTBMD is supposed to be developed in order to defend the whole territory and population of the European NATO members states, as established by Lisbon Summit on November 2010.

August 31 2011
EEAS DELEGATION ARRIVES IN TRIPOLI
An EEAS delegation arrived in Tripoli, led by Antonio Miozzo, Managing Director for Crisis Response in the European External Action Service. The delegation’s task is to assess the current Libyan situation, preparing the ground for the opening of an EU delegation in Lybia and keeping the contacts with the Libyan National Transition Council. In the meanwhile the EU office in Benghazi remains open and fully operational.