The program of EU Defense Ministers in Deauville

(B2) Material capabilities, EU military operations and the link between Europe of Defense and citizens: these will be the subjects that drive the discussions of the 27 EU Defense Ministers, meeting in Deauville and Trouville (Normandy) . A place well known to the French Minister of Defense, Hervé Morin, since he is mayor of a small town not far from there, Epaignes.

Four operations under discussion

The meeting opens, Wednesday, October 1, with a working lunch (at the Deauville casino) devoted to the military operations in progress, in the presence of the commander of the operation Eufor Chad/CAR and that of Operation Althea, in Bosnia, on their conduct and prospects.

In the first case, it is a question of giving first intentions on what will happen at the end of the mandate, after March 2009.

Regarding the Bosnia, the question is more political: when and how should the end of the operation be envisaged? "We have to start thinking about a strategy of withdrawal and reducing the number of troops. We cannot continue to maintain large numbers of troops in a country which has signed a stabilization and association agreement and which could, one day, be a candidate for membership" explains a European expert.

Finally, even if this point is not officially on the agenda, the Ministers should consider the future military, air and naval operation, which could be set up in Somalia to fight pirates. And even if the EU observation operation in Georgia (Ummm Georgia) is a civilian operation, it should also be at the top of the media agenda, October 1st also being the date of the full deployment of this mission.

Each minister goes to the board to present an idea

After the traditional "family photo", the ministers are to meet at the International Center of Deauville (the convention center), for a first working session devoted to "strengthening European military capabilities". "Faced with the requirements of operations which are multiplying, the need to have modern, robust, flexible and interoperable capacities" must be reaffirmed by all, we explain to the French presidency. Defense Minister Hervé Morin has thus asked several of his counterparts to introduce a subject: the Briton on the Franco-British EU-NATO initiative to modernize the European fleet of helicopters, the Belgian (or another , the Belgian minister being detained in Afghanistan) on the prospect of a European fleet of transport aircraft, the Italian on naval air cooperation, the Greek on space observation, and various research and technology projects, such as the drones (aircraft without pilots), Sweden on maritime mine clearance, etc. The objective is to be able to identify, for each of these projects, the Member States which are ready to commit. In fact of working session, there are quite a lot of people in the room: each minister can, in fact, be accompanied by 4 people. Count: 27 X 5.

...on how to build capacity et rationalize the industrial effort a little

In the afternoon, Defense Ministers also have a broader and forward-looking debate on how to better produce European military capabilities and streamline efforts in this area. In addition to the capability development plan led by the European Defense Agency, reflection will be focused on new solutions, exploring for example the logic of pooling and specialization, likely to make the European defense industry more efficient. The German minister must "work" on the methods of collaboration between the European Defense Agency (ADE/EDA) and the European Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR).

The choirs of the French army end the working session. And the ministers meet for a dinner in Trouville, a neighboring town, at the Quatre Chats bistro (no need to show up there, it's by invitation, and there's not that much space in the restaurant) . The evening is then free. We bet that some could end up on the port or at the casino. That's the charm of "informal" meetings...

Military Erasmus, Europe of citizens and evacuations of nationals

The following day, Thursday 2 October, the Ministers devote their work to the theme of "Europe of defense and citizens". On this occasion, they have a first discussion on the common training project for officers, inspired by the Erasmus programme. They are also discussing how to improve the action of military means for the benefit of maritime surveillance and the evacuation of nationals. This working session is also preceded by a meeting between a hundred students and high school students from Normandy and the Ministers of Defense and followed by an "informal buffet lunch" between ministers, high school students and students.

It is planned to leave around 15 p.m....

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

The detailed program of the meeting here

(published in Europolitics)