History
The end of the Cold War and the Balkans crises of the 1990s provided a clear requirement for the Europeans to be able to play a more active role in conflict prevention, management, and resolution. The 1993 Maastricht Treaty created the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and in 1998, at St Malo, the UK and France agreed that CFSP must be supported by a capacity for autonomous EU action. This should be backed up by credible forces, the political will to use them, and a readiness to do so, in order to respond to international crises. The aim was to strengthen military capabilities across Europe - both for NATO, and also to enable the EU to act in situations where NATO as a whole: is not engaged; or is unable or unwilling to act.
To develop European military capability, in 1999 the EU agreed the 'Helsinki Headline Goal', updated in 2004 to create the 'Headline Goal 2010', which stated that member states should be able to:
'respond with rapid and decisive action applying a fully coherent approach to the whole spectrum of crisis management operations covered by the Treaty on the European Union. This includes humanitarian and rescue tasks, peace-keeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacekeeping.'
However, investment in defence capabilities across many parts of Europe remains low, with only three countries in the EU (including the UK) spending at least 2% GDP on Defence. The lack of political will by some European partners to undertake offensive military action where it is required is also cause for concern. Therefore, one of the primary aims of the UK's involvement in the CSDP is to encourage European partners to invest in more defence capability that can be made available to both NATO and the EU.
Operations
The range of instruments available to the EU gives it the advantage of a more comprehensive approach to security and defence, allowing it to combine civilian and military action with development and diplomatic activities. Since 2003, the EU has been involved in eight military and sixteen civilian operations. Civilian missions currently include a monitoring mission in Georgia, an Afghanistan National Police training mission in Afghanistan, and a Security Sector Reform mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The CSDP is currently undertaking three military missions. In 2004 the EU launched Operation ALTHEA in Bosnia, at its height comprising some 7,000 troops from 33 countries - a third of which were non-EU nations. Op ALTHEA took over from the incumbent NATO mission and, alongside its sister Police Mission, has continued to support stability and provide security to uphold the terms of the Dayton Peace Agreement. In December 2008 the EU launched its first naval operation, Op ATALANTA, which aims to deter, prevent and repress acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, and to protect World Food Programme and other vulnerable vessels.
The UK provides the Operational Headquarters at Northwood and the Operational Commander, Major General Buster Howes - who will be succeeded by Rear Admiral Duncan Potts on 1 August 2011. This operation works in close cooperation with NATO's counter-piracy mission and the US-led Combined Maritime Force.
Recognising that counter-piracy must be part of a comprehensive response to the situation in Somalia, EU Training Mission (EUTM) Somalia was set up early in 2010. EUTM Somalia, conducted in Bihanga, Uganda, trains Somali security forces supporting the Somali Transitional Federal Government in close coordination with EU partners, Uganda, the African Union, the United Nations and the United States of America.
With the objective to enable a quick reaction to crises, the EU created the Battlegroup concept in 2004. Battlegroups are small, highly mobile self-sustaining stand-by forces (approximately 1,500 troops) designed for rapid crisis intervention, typically in response to a UN request. There are two Battlegroups on standby at any one time. The UK provided Battlegroups in the second half of 2008 and the first half of 2010 and will do so with Sweden in the second half of 2013. Although to date no EU Battlegroup has been used on operations, some member states have invested in their military capabilities in order that they can contribute forces to the Battlegroup roster.
All 26 Member States have to agree before a mission can be launched, and Member States decide individually on a case-by-case basis whether or not to contribute, and the extent to which they do so - just as they do in NATO and the UN. The use of our Armed Forces remains at the sole discretion of the UK Government.
Organisation
CSDP is the responsibility of the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, currently Baroness Catherine Ashton. The High Representative represents the EU on all CFSP matters, and is assisted in this by the European External Action Service (EEAS). The EEAS works alongside civilian and military staff representing the 26 Member States (Denmark has an opt-out of the CSDP arrangements) to implement and support CSDP.
CSDP operations may be commanded from one of five nominated national military headquarters; Northwood (UK), Potsdam (Germany), Mont Valérien (France), Centocelle (Italy) or Larissa (Greece). Furthermore, since 2002, the EU has had guaranteed access to NATO's operational planning facilities at its Supreme Headquarters Allied Europe (SHAPE) for EU-led operations. These so-called 'Berlin Plus' arrangements are used effectively for Operation Althea in Bosnia Herzegovina.
The EU and NATO should work complementary to each other, mutually reinforcing rather than one duplicating the other. This effective multilateralism, epitomised by arrangements like Berlin Plus, is a founding principle of CSDP. Unfortunately, formal agreements of this sort are hindered by the political disagreements between Turkey and Cyprus, and Op Althea is the only CSDP operation at present to benefit from NATO assets. We continue to work alongside allies and partners to ensure that these difficulties can be overcome, so that the EU can support NATO in delivering a comprehensive response to today's global security challenges.
EDA
To drive forward and support European military capability development the European Defence Agency (EDA) was established in July 2004. The UK vision is for the EDA to be capability driven - a 'dating agency' forum helping participating Member States to work together to identify common solutions to capability shortfalls. This is achieved through commissioning relevant research and technology studies and through working together on joint projects.
The UK has decided to extend our membership of the European Defence Agency provisionally for two years, during which time we want to see the agency focus on delivering more capability-building but away from unnecessary institution building. Consequently, we will review our membership of the Agency at the end of next year in the light of its potential contribution to European defence capability to maximise the value for money spent on defence to the tax payer.