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30 octobre 2015 5 30 /10 /octobre /2015 19:50
photo European Union

photo European Union

 

30.10.2015 par EMA

 

Les 28 et 29 octobre 2015, le général d’armée Pierre de Villiers s’est rendu à Bruxelles pour participer à la réunion semestrielle des chefs d’état-major de l’Union européenne (CMUE).

 

Après avoir fait un point sur la situation sécuritaire internationale (menace terroriste au Levant et au Sahel, crise migratoire en Méditerranée, instabilités en Afrique), les chefs d’état-major d’armée se sont concentrés sur les actions spécifiques de l’UE en réponse à ces crises. Pour sa part, le général de Villiers a présenté les enseignements tirés de l’engagement opérationnel des forces françaises dans les opérations Sangaris en République centrafricaine, Barkhane dans la Bande sahélo-saharienne, mais aussi Corymbe dans le Golfe de Guinée.

Convaincu de la nécessité d’une approche globale du règlement des crises, il a souligné le rôle fondamental de la coopération avec les autres forces, qu’il s’agisse de forces internationales, comme celles de l’UE ou de l’ONU, mais aussi des forces africaines partenaires.

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29 octobre 2015 4 29 /10 /octobre /2015 20:50
 Credit 'The European Union'

Credit 'The European Union'


28-29/10/2015 Brussels - Council of the EU
 

Main results

The European Union Military Committee met on 28-29 October in chiefs of defence (CHODs) format. Chiefs of defence discussed the EU global strategy, naval operations, training and advisory missions, Ukraine and cooperation with NATO.

 

"We had an important two day meeting. EU chiefs of defence are committed, engaged, and aware of the challenging international situation"

General de Rousiers, Chairman of the European Union  Military Committee

 

EU global strategy

Chiefs of defence were briefed by the EEAS Secretary General, Alain Le Roy, on EU Security and Defence matters. He touched upon the EU global strategy on foreign and security policy, the EEAS review. During the discussion some of the CHODs highlighted their activities within the coalition against Da'esh.

 

CSDP naval operations

The chiefs of defence discussed CSDP military operations and missions with a specific view to their planning and conduct, including force generation, capabilities, support by EDA, crisis cell. CHODs had then an overview of EU actions in the field of migration and an update on ongoing EU naval operations, most importantly EUNAVFOR Med - Operation Sophia and EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta. They had a discussion on the evolution of both missions. The issue of force generation was addressed as well, as a force generation conference for all of our operations including operation Sophia and Atalanta.

 

CSDP training and advisory missions

In a joint session with chiefs of defence from partner nations contributing to EU CSDP missions, namely Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, and Serbia, CHODs had an in depth discussion on the evolution of the EU training missions and EU military advisory missions in Mali, Central African Republic and Somalia. The Commission highlighted the progress achieved with regard to capacity building for security and development. The CHODs discussed the next steps for all of those missions.

 

Ukraine

The 28 EU CHODs had also an exchange of views with General Viktor Muzhenko, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the current situation in the country, with a specific eye on hybrid warfare. General Muzhenko notably highlighted the reorganisation of the Ukrainian armed forces, the needs, and provided his assessment of the situation on the ground.

 

Hybrid Warfare

Chiefs of defence had an in-depth discussion on hybrid warfare. The director of the intelligence centre (INTCEN) highlighted the board range of hybrid threats focusing mainly on Da'esh, Al-Shabab, Boko-Haram and other terrorist organisations. The CHODs recognised the need for collaboration, noting that intensive work is ongoing.

 

EU/NATO cooperation

The Chiefs of defence turned then to EU/NATO cooperation, including hybrid warfare, battlegroups certification, capabilities and the Single European Sky. In this context CHODs were briefed by US AFRICOM Commander, General David M. Rodriguez and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) General Sir Adrian Bradshaw. 

As General de Rousiers is due to leave office on 5 November 2015, he introduced and symbolically transferred authority as Chairman of the EUMC to the incoming Chairman General Michail Kostarakos.

 

 

Photos and videos of the event

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25 juin 2015 4 25 /06 /juin /2015 11:50
Cyber defence exercise for decision makers


Prague - 22 June, 2015 European Defence Agency
 

From 16 to 18 June 2015, the European Defence Agency (EDA) together with the Czech National Security Authority (NBU) organised an exercise for Comprehensive and Strategic Decision Making on Cyber Security and Defence in Prague. The exercise was opened with keynote speeches from the Director of the NBU, Mr Dušan Navrátil and the Estonian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, H.E. Mr. Sten Schwede. The Estonian Ambassador to NATO, H.E. Mr. Lauri Lepik, visited the exercise on 17 June.

 

The exercise execution was supported by the Estonian based European Cyber Security Initiative (ECSI), a Non-Governmental Organisation aiming at improving cyber security across Europe, as well as representatives from the Estonian and Portuguese governments, the EU Military Staff and CERT-EU.

The tabletop exercise aimed at training senior decision makers from the public and private sectors to comprehensively deal with complex cyber attack scenarios. The methodological concept of the exercise, that refers back to an Estonian initiative, was initially piloted with the Portuguese government in May 2014. The exercise in Prague served as a first proof-of-concept. In total 57 representatives from the Czech government, the Czech private sector and observers from Austria, Estonia, Slovakia, ENISA and CCD COE participated. 

Participants expressed their appreciation of the exercise in general. In particular they valued the realistic scenario and concept as well as the pragmatism in transferring a complex issue into a coherent training concept. They also agreed that the exercise addressed an existing gap in the training and exercise landscape. 

A second proof-of-concept exercise will be organised with the Austrian government in September 2015 in Vienna

 

More Information:

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4 avril 2015 6 04 /04 /avril /2015 11:50
Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe, Director General of the EU Military Staff

Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe, Director General of the EU Military Staff

 

01-04-2015 - by SEDE

 

The Subcommittee will hold an exchange of views on the state of play of the EU military rapid response capabilities with Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe, Director General of the EU Military Staff.

 

 

When: 16 April 2015

 

Further information

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11 décembre 2014 4 11 /12 /décembre /2014 12:50
European Union Military Staff and NATO International Military Staff Cooperation towards Complementarity

 

11 Dec. 2014 NATO

 

European Union Military Staff (EUMS) and NATO International Military Staff (IMS) representatives convened last Friday, 05 December 2014, at the EU Military Staff Headquarters in Brussels for their third meeting of 2014. The meeting was co-chaired by the Director Generals (DG) of both organisations. The informal staff-to-staff talks are part of the NATO-EU strategic military dialogue that has been ongoing since 2003.

 

In their remarks, Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper (DGIMS) and Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe (DGEUMS) stressed the strong desire for enhanced EU – NATO cooperation aimed at IMS-EUMS complementarity in order to ensure coherence, mutual reinforcement and non-duplication of effort. This was emphasised in the conclusions of the European Council 2013 and at the recent NATO Summit in Wales. Regarding the NATO Summit declaration, Air Marshal Harper pointed out the emphasis of the EU therein; this highlighted NATO and the EU’s important partnership. Both sides agreed on the solid basis that has developed during their June 2014 conference and the positive opportunities on both sides for enhanced mutual cooperation. The conference was used to explore potential for further interaction.

 

Wrapping up the discussions, Lieutenant General Wosolsobe stated that "the conference served as an ideal opportunity for sharpening both staff's views on where to move from a military point of view in order to live up to the expectations of the highest institutional levels on both sides regarding EU – NATO engagement." He referred to the discussed topics as "triggers of overlapping interests." Air Marshal Harper agreed and concluded by stating that "opportunities for future cooperation, the risks for both NATO and EU of not doing so, need to be carefully analysed and understood."

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7 novembre 2014 5 07 /11 /novembre /2014 08:45
Lt Col Farmer is the medical planner for the EU Military Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali).

Lt Col Farmer is the medical planner for the EU Military Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali).

 

Brussels - 21 October, 2014 European Defence Agency

 

Lt Col Alison Farmer was one of 75+ people attending a symposium in Brussels organised by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and EU Military Staff (EUMS) to discuss medical support for EU operations.

 

Lt Col Farmer is the medical planner for the EU Military Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali).  She has been a nurse within the British Army for almost 30 years, being deployed to Afghanistan, the Balkans, and a range of other countries.

 

Alison, what does EUTM Mali do and what is your role within it?

The aim of EUTM Mali is to contribute to the training and advice of the Malian Armed Forces (MaAF). The Mission began in February 2013, following the request of the Malian authorities (and UNSCR 2071), to help Malian troops overcome the insurgency in northern Mali.  More than 23 EU Member States have contributed military personnel to the mission to date.

As the Joint Medical Planner for the Mission, I am responsible for all aspects of medical support and advice in the Mission Area. Within my team of 3, we conduct planning to ensure all our medical assets (medical treatment facilities including Ground and Air MEDEVAC), can deliver continuous 24 hour care for EUTM MALI personnel. We also undertake health surveillance of our Population at Risk and health threats from the local environment.

 

What challenges do you face in Mali? What do you need to take into account when formulating medical plans?

The main one is that of logistics; the training of the MaAF takes place at different locations in southern Mali – so we implement a medical plan to mitigate against any possible incident at the sites. Our plan has to be robust to make sure we can medically evacuate a seriously injured casualty from the point of incident to our Role 2 within the 10-1-2 medical planning guidelines. This can be challenging considering the distances that we need to cover, and the infrastructure within Mali. We test all our plans through recces and by monthly medical exercises before the plans are agreed by the Mission Commander.

 

How does your team work? Do you work in separate national teams within the mission?

No, my team is multinational, and medical planning is conducted for the whole of the mission, not for a single nation; so for all French, German, Belgian, Spanish etc.; whichever Member State personnel are part of EUTM MALI.

 

What are the advantages and challenges of this multinational environment?

It’s a great opportunity to share our knowledge and experience with each other.  I see it as overwhelmingly positive; we all have different backgrounds and skills. We may have different approaches to the challenges we face, but our common goal in making the mission a success, gels our methods. Much of that is about information sharing and finding the best way to manage situations.

 

Lastly why are you here at the EU medical symposium? And have you found it a useful experience?

The EUMS medical advisor told me about the symposium. The event and the programme drew my attention, as the topics were broad and varied.  It’s also a great way of meeting those at strategic level and fellow planners from other missions to have a broader understanding of what else is going on.

I’ve really enjoyed the two days and have learnt a lot.  I have spoken to lots of people during the symposium which has opened up new information exchange areas. I’m looking forward to bring the information back and sharing it with my colleagues in EUTM MALI.

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6 novembre 2014 4 06 /11 /novembre /2014 19:50
EDA organises joint course with European Security and Defence College

 

Brussels - 28 October, 2014 European Defence Agency

 

A three-day European Armaments Cooperation Course started 28 Oct. at the European Defence Agency (EDA) in Brussels.

 

More than 40 participants from sixteen EDA Member States and Serbia, as well as the European Commission, the European Parliament, the EU Military Staff (EUMS) and the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), started a three-day European Armaments Cooperation Course. This course, the third of its kind, is organised jointly by EDA and the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). It is divided into two parts: the Awareness Level, now ongoing in Brussels, and the Expert Level, which will take place from 24 to 28 November in Prague, Czech Republic.

The course is intended primarily for practitioners working in national and international armament cooperation who need to gain knowledge and experience in European acquisition and project management. It aims to provide them with a better understanding of frameworks, stakeholders, tools, and processes of European armaments cooperation, as well as its many benefits and challenges.

 

Learning from each other

As the EDA Deputy Chief Executive, Rini Goos, said today: “We, in Europe, need to be clear on how we work together, learning from each other and tackling co-operation from a European perspective. This is essential and in the long-term I would like to see a common understanding and approach emerge, supported where required through training and education courses like this one. This is where I see the EDA adding the most value and impact; improving the delivery of future European military capabilities to make the Common Security and Defence Policy more credible in line with the 2013 European Council conclusions.”

EDA's work in this domain started in 2006 when the Agency commissioned a study on cooperative lessons learned. Best practice and education were shortlisted among key enablers for cooperative programmes. The topic received widespread support from Member States and in 2007 the EDA Steering Board, in National Armaments Directors configuration, directed the Agency to focus in particular on education in European armaments acquisitions.

 

Education and training platform

In 2009, the Czech Republic’s EU Presidency supported the creation of a new European armaments cooperation course; providing an EU-wide education and/or training platform where a common understanding of a European approach to armaments cooperation can be promoted and nurtured. EDA Member States welcomed the initiative and later that year the EDA Steering Board, in National Armaments Directors configuration, approved the top-level European Armaments Co-operation (EAC) Framework, under which the current course has been established.

In 2013, thanks to the initiative of Austria and other like-minded countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, the course took its current form. It followed the success of the pilot European Armaments Cooperation Course organised in Brussels and Stadtschlaining in 2012.

 

A real and urgent need

Giampaolo Lillo, EDA Cooperation Planning and Support Director, said: “The technical, legal and administrative complexities of cooperation programmes – and the lack of expertise on how to tackle them – appear to be part of the reason why the potential of European armament cooperation remains largely untapped. This is why I think this course aims at the right target, responding to a real and urgent need. Apart from the obvious interest to practitioners, it is also very useful for anybody involved in the legislative process at EU level.”

EDA, in its effort to offer Member States the most effective and tailored support to enhance their interoperability, upon its restructuring created in the Cooperation Planning and Support Directorate a dedicated Education, Training and Exercises Unit to address education and training activities in an harmonised way. This course is one of its outcomes.

 

More information

European Security and Defence College website

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17 septembre 2014 3 17 /09 /septembre /2014 16:50
Symposium on Medical Support to CSDP operations to be held next month in Brussels
 
Brussels - 10 September, 2014 European Defence Agency

 

Organised by the European Defence Agency and the EU Military Staff, the event will gather representatives from capability and planning units and subject-matter experts to promote future developments in this domain.

 

Being able to provide medical support to EU personnel deployed around the world as part of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions is critical to the success of those operations. But the challenges are plentiful: how to finance this medical support?  How to implement it in a EU framework? What are the best ways to provide emergency response in a difficult environment? Which emerging diseases need to be watched and what should be done to efficiently tackle them in the field?  How to implement a static organism at EU level to deal with the capability development for medical support?

Those issues and many others will be addressed over the course of a two-day symposium organised jointly by the European Defence Agency and the EU Military Staff (EUMS), to be held at the Belgian Royal Military Academy in Brussels on 15-16 October 2014. It will be attended by subject-matter experts from EDA, EUMS as well as many other key actors of CSDP medical support, and it is open to all professionals and industry representatives working on the topic.  

 

EDA’s involvement

The European Defence Agency is already active in the medical support field, mainly through an ongoing initiative that has been joined by 16 Member States so far. Initiated in 2011 and led by Italy, the Multinational Modular Medical Units project aims to develop a state-of-the-art deployable field hospital that should become available to CSDP operations. It is designed to be used in a wide a range of missions, from peacekeeping to humanitarian relief and coercive operations. 

The detailed programme of the Symposium is available here. People interested in attending the event are invited to contact EDA via email at cat@eda.europa.eu before 8 October 2014.

 

More information

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6 décembre 2013 5 06 /12 /décembre /2013 13:50
PSC and EUMS heads discussed Defence Summit - Subcommittee on Security and Defence

06-12-2013 SEDE

 

On 27 November 2013 the SEDE subcommittee exchanged views on the diplomatic and military stocktake following the FAC Defence and ahead of the European Council on Defence with Walter Stevens, Chair of the Political and Security Committee and Lieutenant General Wolfgang Wosolsobe, Director General of the EU Military Staff.

 

Further information meeting documents

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30 janvier 2012 1 30 /01 /janvier /2012 08:25
Durée et source du budget de l’OpsCenter en discussion



jan 27, 2012 Nicolas Gros-Verheyde (BRUXELLES2)

 

Les ambassadeurs du COPS, le comité politique et de sécurité de l’UE, pourraient terminer aujourd’hui la discussion sur l’OpsCenter, le centre d’opérations de l’UE pour les opérations dans la Corne de l’Afrique dont les 27 ministres des Affaires étrangères ont décidé la mise en place. Deux points restent en discussion : la durée de la mise en action de l’OpsCenter, le budget ou plutôt la source du budget du centre d’opérations. Des points qui peuvent paraître techniques mais sont aussi très politiques.

 

Sur la durée de fonctionnement de l’OpsCenter, chacune des délégations autour de la table est bien d’accord pour que ce centre ne soit pas installé sur une base permanente mais bien lié à des opérations. Toute la discussion porte sur le renouvellement. Les Britanniques souhaitent une durée fixe, avec une décision de renouvellement comme pour chaque mission. Les Allemands soulignent que ce type de fonctionnement revient à remettre en question le devenir du centre, et le laisser à la merci d’une seule délégation (suivez leur regard…:-). Précisons que la décision fixant la mission de l’OpsCenter sera régulièrement réévaluée (tous les six mois), pour ajuster au besoin son fonctionnement.

 

Sur le budget, toute la question est de savoir qui va financer quoi.  Le personnel proviendra, en effet, à la fois de l’Etat-Major militaire, de l’élement de soutien d’EUTM et de l’équipe de liaison d’Eunavfor Atalanta déjà présents à Bruxelles et du personnel détaché de l’Etat membre. Selon le projet de décision qu’a pu lire B2 mentionne bien que les membres de l’Etat-Major militaire de l’Union européenne (EUMS) sont financés par son budget. Tandis que les experts détachés par les Etats membres sont pris en charge par ceux-ci. Restent les autres frais de fonctionnement qui seront pris en charge par chacune des missions européennes concernées (Eunavfor Atalanta, EUTM Somalia, RMCB/EUCAP Corne de l’Afrique), en application des règles financières adéquates. C’est ces derniers mots qui suscitent discussion. Que sont ces modalités adéquates ? Certains Etats – comme la France – souhaitent que ce soit le budget Athena qui y contribue. La plupart des autres pays ne le souhaitent pas, le budget Athena étant réservé aux opérations militaires… et sur contribution de chaque Etat membre (par quote-part du PIB).

 

Quant à la nomination du chef de l’OpsCenter, les candidatures courent jusqu’à lundi. Plusieurs pays devraient postuler, notamment plusieurs pays de Weimar + (France, Allemagne, Pologne, Espagne, Italie).

 

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