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Europaudvalget 2011-12
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COUNCIL OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION

Council conclusions on

Common Security and Defence Policy

3130th FOREIGN AFFAIRS Council meeting

Brussels, 1 December 2011

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

"1.

In the context of a growing demand for the European Union to become a more capable,

coherent and strategic global actor, the Council reiterates the continuing need for a

comprehensive approach that increasingly mobilises the different tools at the EU’s disposal as

part of a coherent and effective strategy to achieve the EU’s objectives.

The Council underlines the importance of CSDP as an essential element for such a

comprehensive approach. Effective CSDP needs to be underpinned by sufficient and adequate

capabilities – in terms of personnel, assets and intelligence analytical support. Against the

backdrop of current financial constraints, the challenge for Europe is to do better with less and

to deliver on its responsibilities. In this regard, the Council stresses the importance of fully

exploiting the wide variety of existing national and EU resources, maximising synergies and

strengthening cooperation.

The Council emphasizes that further progress in CSDP is necessary, and remains fully

committed to the comprehensive civil-military level of ambition of 2008, as set out in the

Declaration on Strengthening Capabilities.

In this regard, the Council welcomes the work carried out by the High Representative and the

EEAS in line with the Council Conclusions on CSDP of 31 January 2011 and of

21 March 2011, and following the Weimar initiative joined by Italy and Spain, the High

Representative’s report on CSDP of 11 July 2011 and subsequent contributions by Member

States.

CSDP Missions and Operations

CSDP missions and operations are the tangible expression of CSDP in action. Over the past

eight years, the EU has deployed 24 missions and operations under CSDP, deploying 80.000

personnel.

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The Council remains fully committed to contributing to security and stability in regions where

the EU is operationally engaged. While considering new CSDP actions, the Council

underlines its full commitment to maintain the current engagement to the ongoing CSDP

missions and operations.

The Council notes with concern that several missions and operations face considerable

challenges in generating sufficient resources to fulfil their key objectives. The Council,

renewing its call on Member States to provide the necessary resources, undertakes to make

every effort to address these gaps.

The Council also recognises the need to continuously improve the performance of CSDP

missions and operations, including through evaluation of outcomes, benchmarking, impact

assessment, identifying and implementing lessons learned and developing best practices for

effective and efficient CSDP action.

The Council recalls the importance of a continued and systematic consideration of aspects

relating to human rights, gender and children affected by armed conflict from the early

planning of CSDP missions and operations, during their conduct as well as in the subsequent

lessons learned processes.

In line with the ambition to fulfil the EU's potential in promoting and preserving peace and

stability, the EU will actively and effectively use the full spectrum of instruments at its

disposal for crisis management and conflict prevention. The EU will act through CSDP

missions and operations to add value, on the basis of identified needs, with clear objectives

and exit strategies to deliver and sustain results.

The Council welcomes the concrete steps by the High Representative to counter

interconnected security threats in the Horn of Africa, particularly piracy, in the context of the

EU strategic framework for the Horn of Africa and in view of establishing further synergies

amongst the various CSDP initiatives in the region. To underpin this effort, the Council has

agreed to revert in early 2012 to the issue of extending the mandate of EUNAVFOR Atalanta

until the end of 2014, and will approve the Crisis Management Concept for a civilian CSDP

mission with military expertise to strengthen regional maritime capacities in Somalia and in

the wider Horn of Africa region. The Council notes ongoing work for a CSDP mission in

South Sudan, with a focus on airport security.

The Council also remains committed to addressing the security challenges in the Sahel, and

encourages the High Representative to take forward preparatory work for further

consideration by the end of the year with a view to a CSDP engagement to reinforce regional

security capabilities in the region, in close cooperation with the African Union.

The Council reaffirms the EU's readiness to provide further assistance to Libya across a range

of possible sectors, including inter alia security sector reform and border management.

Options for possible CSDP action should be elaborated in early 2012 in full respect of the

principle of Libyan ownership and priorities and in cooperation with the UN.

10.

11.

12.

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Capability development

13.

Recalling its December 2010 decision to extend the implementation of the Headline Goals

beyond 2010, the Council emphasizes that further civilian and military capability

development for CSDP remains a key objective in order to respond both to existing gaps and

growing needs in the field. The Council recognises progress achieved in promoting synergies

between the EU civilian and military capability development, and encourages further work.

Civilian capabilities

14.

The Council stresses the importance of strengthening and sustaining the efforts for the civilian

capability development, in particular in the context of current financial constraints, building

on the work conducted under the two Civilian Headline Goals and in synergy with other EU

instruments, with a view to responding more rapidly and effectively to crisis management

tasks, and invites the HR to propose a multi-annual work programme in this regard.

The Council calls for a more effective use of national strategies in facilitating the deployment

of civilian personnel. The Council stresses the need for increased efforts involving in

particular national ministries of foreign affairs, defence, interior, justice and finance, as well

as through dedicated high level meetings at EU level. The Council also stresses the

importance of building on the ongoing developments in strengthening ties between the

Common Security and Defence Policy and the area of Freedom, Security and Justice in line

with the competences of the bodies concerned and underlines the need to improve the

cooperation between these actors as part of a broader effort in developing synergies between

the internal and external dimensions of security.

The Council stresses the need for better use of the existing resources, calling for more

effective recruitment processes, including for management positions, and more efficient use

of the expertise developed by the mission personnel for civilian missions. More training and,

as appropriate, national career incentives will help equip the CSDP missions with qualified

and motivated personnel.

The Council also invites the High Representative and the Commission to examine improved

ways of force generation based on a sound regulatory framework in order to make proposals

in the first half of 2012 for consideration by the Council.

15.

16.

17.

Military capabilities

18.

The Council stresses the urgent necessity to strengthen European cooperation in the area of

military capability development for sustaining and enhancing CSDP in order to improve

operational effectiveness and in the context of increasingly constrained defence budgets.

Concrete progress in the implementation of pooling and sharing requires a continuous

political impetus and a change of mindset. In this context, the Council stresses the need to fill

the critical gaps, including those identified in recent operations.

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19.

The Council welcomes Member States' commitments in specific concrete projects, facilitated

by the European Defence Agency (EDA) in the fields of: Air to Air Refuelling; Smart

Munitions; Aircrew Training; Naval Training and Logistics; European Transport Hubs;

Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance including Space Situational Awareness;

Medical Support; Military Satellite Communications, and looks forward to the concrete

definition of these projects as soon as possible, as well as the development of other pooling

projects on the basis of existing initiatives, such as: maritime surveillance, Helicopter

Training, Satellite Communication (Procurement Cell). The Council welcomes the promising

areas for pooling and sharing identified by the EU Chiefs of Defence (CHODs) which will

provide further impetus to EDA’s ongoing work and define new opportunities.

While welcoming the significant initial efforts, the Council recalls the need to develop

cooperation on military capabilities on a longer term and more systematic basis. It encourages

intensified work on enablers for increased cooperation (in particular best practices, models for

cooperation, lessons learned) and incentives (including the exchange of national experiences

on reinvesting savings in defense) which will facilitate commitments of the Member States.

The Council stresses the need to further examine the impact of reduced defence spending on

capabilities, including its possible impact on key industrial and technological capacities to be

maintained and developed in Europe. The Council encourages further synergies between EDA

and the European Commission, in particular in the field of Research and Technology, in

particular regarding the new European Framework Programme for Research and Technology

(Horizon 2020).

The Council welcomes the existing bilateral and multilateral initiatives among Member

States, such as the ongoing cooperation between France and the UK as well as numerous

other ongoing and emerging regional initiatives, which through innovative methods of

pooling and sharing contribute to improving overall military capabilities. These initiatives

contribute to the dynamic for stimulating further opportunities for cooperation between the

Member States.

The Council invites the EDA to take forward work on all strands above including proposals

for new areas of cooperation and concrete projects as well as for longer term pooling and

sharing. The Council also recalls the commitment of the EU Chiefs of Defence to establish or

widen collaborative projects by mid-2012. The Council urges Member States to take on the

role of lead nation for concrete projects, and will assess the progress made in April 2012.

The Council also underlines the need to further analyse and address the constraints related to

the availability, usability, and deployability of existing military capabilities in CSDP

operations and missions. In this respect, the Council also recalls its Conclusions on ESDP of

17 November 2009.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Civilian and military rapid reaction

24.

The Council stresses the importance of further developing and using the necessary tools for

facilitating civilian rapid reaction, e.g. through enhanced use of the Civilian Response Teams

and Security Sector Reform expert pools. The establishment of a CSDP permanent warehouse

for civilian assets in 2012 and refined procedures will, among other functions, also improve

rapid reaction.

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25.

The Council confirms its full commitment to the level of ambition as agreed in the

Battlegroup concept. It recalls that Battlegroups provide the EU with a specific rapid reaction

capability and underlines the importance of further facilitating their use in CSDP operations.

Battlegroups contribute to increasing inter-operability among Member States and remain a

vehicle for the transformation of their armed forces towards more mobile and rapidly

deployable forces.

The Council noted that in the first semester of 2012 only one Battlegroup will be on stand-by,

and urges enhanced efforts in order to remedy such shortfalls in the future.

The Council encourages further work relating to Battlegroups such as enhancing the

cooperation between Member States on strategic enablers and niche capabilities, enhancing

the interaction between Battlegroups and the EU level and the possibilities for Battlegroup

interaction with civilian actors. The Council invites the High Representative to present the

results of these various work strands in the course of the first semester of 2012.

The Council notes the ongoing work on the review of the Athena mechanism for financing

military operations with a view to an agreement by the end of this year.

26.

27.

28.

Improving the EU’s performance in planning and conducting missions and operations

29.

The Treaty of Lisbon offers a strong framework and a number of new instruments for the EU

to act as an effective and coherent global actor. The creation of the European External Action

Service (EEAS), and the integration of CSDP structures within it, in full respect of the

specificities and particular functions of these structures, is a key step in ensuring a more

coherent, strategic and synergetic use of all EU policy instruments. These opportunities

should be used to their optimal extent for EU action in the field.

The Council stressed that improving CSDP will also require significant improvement in the

EU's performance in planning and conducting CSDP civilian missions and military

operations, inter alia by enhancing civilian expertise and by better integrating the civilian and

military dimensions, which requires continuous efforts. The Council also calls for

improvements to civilian and military planning, through ensuring clear mandates and

enhanced capacities, taking into account cost-efficiency and resource implications, for the

Crisis Management and Planning Directorate and the EU Military Staff to enable earlier and

more effective advanced planning (up to the preparation of Concepts of Operations) to speed

up decision-making at the political level, improve information exchange, identify civil-

military synergies and strengthen close cooperation with other international organisations.

With a view to achieving greater efficiency and better synergies between civilian and military

planning, and in order to adapt CSDP to the new institutional reality following the entry into

force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Council invites the High Representative to propose a review of

the procedures for EU crisis management, which date from 2003.

The Council calls for making optimal use of the existing structures. In this context, when the

nature of the operation does not require a national HQ, the Council stands ready to activate on

an ad hoc basis the Operations Centre in accordance with its terms of reference for a specific

CSDP Operation. On this basis, the Council agrees to accelerate planning for the activation of

the Operations Centre for the Horn of Africa operations, at the latest by the next Foreign

Affairs Council.

30.

31.

32.

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33.

The Council agrees to keep under review the efficiency of EU performance in planning and

conducting CSDP civilian missions and military operations. Recalling the principles of

unanimity and inclusiveness underpinning CSDP, the Council will decide on possible further

improvements on this basis, without prejudice to the Treaties and in light of the High

Representative's report on CSDP of July 2011.

Partnerships

34.

The Council underlines the importance of strengthening EU-NATO cooperation in crisis

management, in a spirit of mutual reinforcement and with due respect for each organisation’s

decision-making autonomy. In this regard, the Council welcomed the work done by the High

Representative in implementing the mandate of the European Council of September 2010 by

means of a pragmatic step-by-step approach, while keeping with the overall objective of

building a true organisation-to-organisation relationship. The Council called on the High

Representative to pursue efforts to further develop efficient and effective EU cooperation with

NATO, in particular in the areas where both operate side by side.

The Council welcomes close cooperation between the EU and NATO on Pooling and Sharing

and Smart Defence/Multinational Approaches initiatives, in order to ensure coherence, mutual

reinforcement and non-duplication of these efforts. In this context, the Council encourages the

close staff-to-staff contacts to continue in a transparent manner.

Reiterating the importance of the longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation between the EU

and the UN in crisis management, the Council underlines the need for continued close

cooperation and coordination including in operational theatres where both are engaged, in

particular in Afghanistan, Somalia, Kosovo and DRC, or where future engagement is

envisaged, notably in Libya. The Council welcomes the ongoing work with regard to

strengthening EU-UN cooperation in crisis management and EU support to UN peacekeeping

efforts through CSDP. In this respect the Council encourages the High Representative to

pursue the current initiatives and to bring forward proposals for concrete actions to be taken in

the first half of 2012.

The Council underlines the valuable practical contributions and political support to CSDP

missions and operations offered by partner countries. The Council calls for further

development in CSDP cooperation with Eastern and Mediterranean partners on a case-by-case

basis, thus contributing to enhancing regional security and stability. Noting ongoing work on

CSDP cooperation with partner countries, the Council welcomes the efforts of the High

Representative to further pursue substantial dialogue and cooperation with all partner

countries, including strategic partners, and to develop relations with new partners. In this

context, the Council welcomes the important role of the European Security and Defence

College in training and in particular its recent initiatives with partners such as training

programmes and high-level training visits to partner countries. Work will continue to be taken

forward within the existing framework, as defined by various European Councils and

subsequent arrangement and in respect of the institutional framework and decision-making

autonomy of the EU.

35.

36.

37.

Way forward

38.

The Council encouraged the High Representative to continue to take forward work on CSDP,

in close cooperation with the Member States, and looked forward to reviewing progress made

before the end of June 2012."

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