Observatory on European defence, January 2002

January 2002
EU Spanish Presidency Program - ESDP
The Spanish Presidency of the Union issued its working program for the coming semester; on 10 January the Spanish Defence Minister presented the following objectives relative to ESDP: 

• to improve the political process directing the Rapid Reaction Force
• to establish formal meetings between EU Defence Ministers
• to include the fight against terrorism in ESDP missions
• to develop further relations with NATO and non-EU countries
• to bring the Rapid Reaction Force to full operational readiness
• to improve coordination between national intelligence services
• to enhance military capabilities, in particular command and control assets
• to develop further cooperation in defence procurement and industry, using ad hoc agencies such as the OCCAR
• to develop a common framework for civilian and military crisis management tools
• to organise the first EU crisis management exercise in May (this issue was also debated by the COPS meeting on 8 January)
• to give mandate to the EU (formerly WEU) Institute for Security Studies to assess the impact of ESDP on the EU’s Mediterranean policy, to study the so-called Parliamentary Dimension and prepare a public document on European defence