Compromis bereikt over Gemeenschappelijk veiligheids- en defensiebeleid (en)

During the session of the Foreign Affairs Council, the Polish Presidency managed to bring about a compromise and agree conclusions on the development of Common Security and Defence Policy by all Member States.

This constitutes a formal foundation for further work on policy development. The conclusions included all the issues the Polish Presidency regarded as its priorities within the CSDP.

The need for strengthening the EU’s planning and command capabilities on the basis of existing structures was particularly emphasised. At the same time, the conclusions created bases for the real use of the EU Operations Centre which has been in existence since 2004. (So far it has been used only for exercises.) It was also clearly stated that the EU Council would be considering other possible ways of improving the EU’s planning capabilities.

The conclusions also confirmed the significance of Battle Groups to the EU’s crisis-response capacity and showed the need for increasing their operational utility. The demand to increase the Battle groups’ ability to cooperate with civilian entities, put forward by the Polish Presidency and the Weimar partners, was also mentioned in this context.

A good deal of time was devoted to the initiative of common pooling and sharing of defence capabilities. Specific fields of Member States cooperation were listed. The issue of developing the EU’s cooperation with eastern partners within the scope of security and defence was also addressed.

By listing Common Security and Defence Policy among the priorities of the EU Council Presidency, Polandhas proved its readiness to start a serious debate on the directions of development of the EU’s defence cooperation and that it has specific ideas on how to achieve it.