On the agenda of the Council of Defense Ministers of November 30

(BRUSSELS2) The agenda for the meeting is not yet fully known or definitive. But provisionally, we know the main content of the meeting of European Union Defense Ministers (the 27 minus Denmark) which should take place in three different phases. On the one hand, a meeting in "board of directors" format of the European Defense Agency (EDA/EDA), a meeting between ministers, fairly classically devoted to EU operations, capabilities and partnerships, then an informal dinner shared with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs devoted to the main developments in Defense Europe.

Prior to the actual Council of Ministers, ministers will meet in agency format. A meeting which aims to discuss and decide on the activities of the Agency, whether it concerns the development of capabilities, armaments cooperation, defense research and industry.

Several decisions are expected:

• Council conclusions on pooling and sharing;
• The budget of the European Defense Agency (EDA/EDA) for 2012 and the budget foreseen for the years 2013 and 2014;
• Guidelines for the work of the Agency;
• The Agency's activity report, presented by its head, the High Representative;
• Approval of a decision framework on cooperation between the Agency and Switzerland. 

NB: The Council conclusions on CSDP will be adopted the next day (1 December) at the meeting of Foreign Ministers.

On the operations side, we are not really expecting formal conclusions. The ministers will review the operations in progress, with the operation commanders who will be present: the anti-piracy operation Atalanta, with in particular an overview of the more robust means of intervention and especially the difficulties in providing the necessary means , and the training operation for Somali soldiers EUTM Somalia which has just started the second phase of training. Ministers should also have a more strategic discussion on the Horn of Africa and the new maritime capacity building mission in the region. The future of Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be discussed.

The question of the EU's relations with the various partners and third countries will also be tackled, with NATO, the UN or the Eastern Partnership - one of the priorities of the Polish presidency -.

A dinner on CSDP

After the Council, an informal dinner with Foreign Ministers on the future of security and defense policy. A dinner as a follow-up to the Foreign Affairs Council lunch on 14 November. Otherwise, we have in the current situation, no further information on the foreign service to the special nature of this discussion.