Strategic Compass for Security and Defence

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The Strategic Compass for Security and Defence is a roadmap document written by the European External Action Service in 2022. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] and adopted on 25 May 2022 by the European Council. [6] Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief at the time, said that it was a "turning point for the European Union as a security provider and an important step for the European security and defence policy." [7] He also said that given the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a "sea change in EU security and defence" was necessary. [8] The document is seen as a parallel to the National Security Strategy of the United States. [9] It was the first time a collective threat assessment procedure was written. [10] A lengthy list of deliverables included the birth of the Rapid Deployment Capacity, [11] by 2025. [9] Its intended reach was global. [12] A lecturer thought that "Russia has unleashed the strongest push to strengthen Europe’s defence since the end of the Cold War", and that this document provided the necessary impetus. [13]

History

In June 1992 the Western European Union issued the Petersberg Declaration, which set a number of tasks to be fulfilled by the collective of a humanitarian, disarming, peacekeeping and peacemaking nature in foreign lands, such as the Baltic states but the statement left to a future point decisions on funding and personnel.

Chartered in May 1995 to serve the Petersberg Declaration, the 12,000 man European Rapid Operational Force (EUROFOR) was a multinational rapid reaction force composed of forces from four states of the European Union: Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. On 2 July 2012 Eurofor was dissolved after seeing service in Albania (2000) and North Macedonia (2003). [14]

In December 1998 a proposal for a 60,000-man strong force was discussed by Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac but it went nowhere because of Madeleine Albright's "no duplication" stipulation and William Cohen's year 2000 threat to disband NATO if a rapid reaction force were built. [15]

The Helsinki Headline Goal was published in December 1999 and was supposed to establish a European Rapid Reaction Force, [16] which was based on Tony Blair's observation that Europe had not performed well in the Bosnian War where only after NATO intervened in 1995 did the conflict simmer down. They realized when NATO bombed Serbia because of the Kosovo War that they had no tools to defuse a similar conflict even though it was near to their borders. [17]

In 2003 a European Security Strategy was published. [8]

In June 2004 was published Headline Goal 2010. It included 'battle groups', non-permanent combat units which were set up for six months each and consisted of around 1,500 soldiers, and the improvement of air capabilities. [18] [19]

In December 2004 Operation Althea saw 1,100 members of EUFOR take over peacekeeper services in Bosnia from NATO, who had had 60,000 men stationed in the country under Operation Joint Endeavour. [20]

The European Gendarmerie Force was constituted in 2006 as a rapid reaction force composed of elements of several European police and gendarmerie forces, but stops short of a military component.

In May 2007 "A Strategy for the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base" document was published. [8]

In December 2008 a proposal was circulated for a force of 60,000 men to be deployed to a major crisis within 60 days. Another controversy, prompted by a request for a 17,000-man deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo by Ban Ki-Moon, developed around the "battle group" concept. [21]

In November 2017 Emmanuel Macron proposed a European Intervention Initiative force. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western European Union</span> 1954–2011 international organisation and military alliance

The Western European Union was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 Treaty of Brussels. The WEU implemented the Modified Brussels Treaty. During the Cold War, the Western Bloc included the WEU member-states, plus the United States and Canada, as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurocorps</span> Military corps of the European Union

Eurocorps, located in the French city of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), is a multinational corps headquarters. Founded by France and Germany in 1992, it is today composed of personnel from six framework nations and five associated nations. The framework nations place the Eurocorps at the service of the European Union (EU) and NATO, which certified it in 2002 as one of its nine High Readiness Land Headquarters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common Security and Defence Policy</span> Defence policy of the European Union

The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EU Battlegroup</span> Military unit

An EU Battlegroup is a military unit adhering to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union (EU). Often based on contributions from a coalition of member states, each of the eighteen Battlegroups consists of a battalion-sized force reinforced with combat support elements. Two of the battlegroups were to be capable for operational deployment at any one time. The civil power that oversees these battlegroups is the Council of the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Althea</span> Military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Operation Althea, formally the European Union Force Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR), is a military deployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to oversee the military implementation of the Dayton Agreement. It is the successor to NATO's SFOR and IFOR. The transition from SFOR to EUFOR was largely a change of name and commanders: 80% of the troops remained in place. It replaced SFOR on 2 December 2004.

An international decoration is a military award which is not bestowed by a particular country, but rather by an international organization such as the United Nations or NATO. Such awards are normally issued as service medals, for participation in various international military operations, and not for specific acts of heroism or bravery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Defence Agency</span> Agency of the European Union

The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission’s Vice President (HR/VP), and reports to the Council. The EDA was established on 12 July 2004 and is based in Brussels, Belgium, along with a number of other CSDP bodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petersberg Declaration</span>

The Petersberg Declaration was adopted by ministers of the Western European Union on 19 June 1992 at Hotel Petersberg, near Bonn in Germany. It defined military tasks of a humanitarian, disarming, peacekeeping and peacemaking nature that the WEU would be empowered to do. The contents and responsibilities arising from the declaration, known as the Petersberg Tasks, were later transferred to the European Union's (EU) European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), presently known as the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union Military Staff</span> Directorate-general of the EUs External Action Service

The Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS) is the directorate-general of the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that contributes to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by providing strategic advice to the High Representative (HR/VP) and commanding operations through its Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) operational headquarters. From the end of 2020, the MPCC will be capable of running executive operations of up to 2,500 troops, i.e. the size of one EU battle group, as well as 3 non-executive missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Rapid Operational Force</span> Military unit

The European Rapid Operational Force (EUROFOR) was a multinational rapid reaction force composed of forces from four states of the European Union: Italy, France, Portugal and Spain. It had a permanent staff capable of commanding operations, involving commitments of up to a Light Division in size. Eurofor was formed in May 1995 in Lisbon, and was answerable to the Western European Union (WEU) directly. It was tasked with performing Petersberg tasks, including humanitarian, peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions. With the merger of several WEU elements into the European Union, Eurofor had by and large become part of the Common Security and Defence Policy. It was eventually transformed into an EU Battlegroup and was on standby from 1 July until 31 December 2011. On 2 July 2012, Eurofor was dissolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin Plus agreement</span> Address to a group of conventions

The Berlin Plus agreement is the short title of a comprehensive package of agreements made between NATO and the EU on 16 December 2002. These agreements were based on conclusions of NATO's 1999 Washington summit, sometimes referred to as the CJTF mechanism, and allowed the EU to draw on some of NATO's military assets in its own peacekeeping operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helsinki Headline Goal</span>

The Helsinki Headline Goal was a military capability target set for 2003 during the December 1999 Helsinki European Council meeting with the aim of developing a future European Rapid Reaction Force. There was much interest in the idea of a single EU military force, and inexact characterisations of the initiative led to imprecise journalistic depictions about a unified European army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapid Reaction Corps – France</span> Military unit

The Rapid Reaction Corps — France (RRC-FR) was created on 1 July 2005 by the French Army. It is NATO certified and capable of commanding a national or multinational land component of between 5,000 and 60,000 personnel. The corps is intended to command forces under French, EU or NATO command. It is subordinated to the French Army's Commandement des Forces Terrestres, the land forces command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union Military Operation in Chad and the Central African Republic</span> Military unit

European Union Force Chad and the Central African Republic, also EUFOR Tchad/RCA after the French, was the European Union mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), authorised in late 2007. EUFOR Chad/CAR was authorised under the same United Nations Security Council resolution that mandated MINURCAT, a UN force tasked with training police and improving judicial infrastructure.

The European Policy Institutes Network (EPIN) is a network of 31 think tanks from most EU member states and beyond. Its main focus is on current EU and European political and policy debates. EPIN aims to contribute to the debate on the future of Europe through up to the minute, expert analysis and commentary and through providing easy access to understanding the different national debates. EPIN is coordinated by the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, Belgium.

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Roderich Kiesewetter is a former Bundeswehr general staff officer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Common Security and Defence Policy</span> Aspect in of history

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defence forces of the European Union</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union Training Mission in the Central African Republic</span>

The European Union Training Mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM-RCA) is a European Union multinational training mission headquartered in Bangui, Central African Republic.

References

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  18. Hummer, Waldemar. "Sicherheits- und verteidigungspolitische Konzepte der EU im Rahmen der ESVP/GSVP. Verschlungene Wege im 'semantisch-begrifflichen Irrgarten' der Gemeinsamen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik" [EU security and defense policy concepts within the framework of the ESDP/CSDP. Winding paths in the 'semantic-conceptual maze' of the Common Security and Defense Policy]. (Teil I) [Part I]. EU-Infothek (in German).
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  20. Karčić, Hamza (1 November 2022). "Russia vetoing EUFOR in Bosnia may not be a bad thing". Al Jazeera.
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