Poland Eyes EU Battlegroup Rosters

7 Jul 2011 By JULIAN HALE DefenseNews

BRUSSELS - Poland wants to use its term as president of the European Union to promote a strategic debate on how to avoid gaps in EU battlegroup rosters.

EU battlegroups are forces of between 1,300 and 2,000 troops on standby for EU missions and are intended to react to a crisis within five to 15 days. Groups of member states rotate to provide personnel for the battlegroups for six-month periods.

Although they have yet to be deployed, a Polish EU presidency source said member states had discussed using them in the current Libya crisis, as well as in Haiti and Chad. No EU countries have volunteered to be part of an EU battlegroup for one particular six-month period in 2012.

At a July 5 seminar here, there was, according to the Polish source, "broad understanding that the gaps in the battlegroup roster for 2012 and subsequent years constitute a growing risk for the future of battlegroups, and thus require an in-depth reflection on the ways to avoid possible deterioration."

The source pinpointed the crucial issue as being "how to maintain political support of member states" despite the fact that the battlegroups had not yet been deployed. One idea is that battlegroup missions "might encompass stronger emphasis on less-demanding missions, like humanitarian or evacuation operations, rather than on so-far preferred heavy-combat missions."

Possible changes to the makeup of the battlegroups included voluntarily extending their standby period from six to 12 months and including a small civil element of civilian planners. This would then serve as an interface between the battlegroups and civilian capabilities, both from the EU but also from the United Nations, the African Union and nongovernmental organizations. The idea of including a civilian element is being pushed by Poland and is broadly backed by France and Germany.

In addition, the Polish source cited "a growing understanding in the EU that one of the sources of problems for the battlegroups' roster is the limited ability to finance battlegroup operations from the Athena mechanism [an EU fund]."

This is due to be reviewed in the fall. Poland wants to extend it to cover costs such as strategic transport. To do so, it would need support from all 26 EU member states that are part of the EU's defense policy.