Observatory on European defence, December 2001

14-15 December 2001
Laeken EU Council– ESDP and the European Military Force
During the Laeken Council held at the end of the Belgian Presidency of the Union, EU leaders discussed the evolution of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and the operational status of the Rapid Reaction Force after the Capability Conference held in Brussels on 19 November.
The Council approved the Presidency Conclusions, including an Annex that declares the ESDP operative, at least for less demanding missions.
The Presidency’s Relation on ESDP was approved; the document assesses the present situation and underlines the area of intervention for the following Spanish Presidency.
The declaration on the operational status of ESDP was made even though a formal agreement on the use of NATO assets by Europeans has not yet been reached. Greek is blocking recent agreement reached with Turkey through the good efforts of the US and the UK, guaranteeing close consultations between Turkey and the EU.
The Belgium Presidency tried immediately to take advantage of the declaration on ESDP readiness, proposing the Union as the leading organisation for the stabilisation force in Afghanistan, but this initiative is considered premature and has not been backed by national governments.
The Spanish Presidency of the EU will have to develop further both the ESDP military capabilities and institutions.

The EU’s real capability to conduct complex operations autonomously and without access to NATO assets is clearly limited. The declaration of ESDP readiness to conduct small-scale operations is at both a risk and an opportunity for the Union; it could be an incentive to reach full readiness in the short term, but it could also create strong expectations that will have to be fulfilled soon, if policy makers are to keep up a strong consensus towards ESDP.
Beyond military capability issues, there are still internal and external institutional problems to be addressed.
Some EU institutions (the Political and Security Committee, the Military Committee, the Military Staff) have been established, but an arrangement between CFSP and ESDP actors (the Troika, the High Representative, the Parliament,…) is still not in place. A true chain of command and the procedures for the activation of the force have to be established.
An agreement with the Atlantic Alliance has to be reached, overcoming the reciprocal vetos of Turkey and Greek.
The negative reaction to the Belgian offer to involve the EU in the Afghanistan stabilization force indicates that capability shortcomings are not the only issue; there is also a political problem deriving from national governments’ reluctance to hand an important part of their sovereignty over to Europe.
The documents approved and the problems raised during the Council will be a difficult starting point for the action of the Spanish Presidency of the Union during the first semester of 2002.