24 hours or 6 months?
(BRUSSELS2) Coming on Wednesday (15 May) to the think tank "Notre Europe" - "a tribute to Jacques Delors who gave me a lot" - the French Minister of Defense, Jean-Yves le Drian (*), pointed out single out Europe's slowness to implement its security and defense missions.
Nb: The Minister also addressed other subjects: his European vision of defence, the global approach, permanent structured cooperation (to be published on the Club).
Six months to set up EUTM Mali!
« The first time we talked about the EUTM Mali mission (at ministerial level), it was at the end of September (at the informal Council of Cyprus). It then took 6 months to see a first member of the mission settle in Mali. And, again, I am told, it is a very short time! “And the minister to recommend a vast “simplification” of the device. " There is really a need to clarify, to shorten, to make more efficient the way of managing crises at European level. We must also put an end to the compartmentalization that exists between the European Commission and the EEAS ". And to ask a killer question: When I informed the President of the Republic on January 10 (of the situation in Mali), the President made his decision the next day at 12 noon and the forces were there at 17 p.m. What is the European tool that will allow this reactivity? »
Comment: the image is not exaggerated, the problem is real...
The shortcut of the comparison - six months for the EU, 24 hours for France - is striking. And we could discuss it. Because the French national system - which had been on standby for several weeks - and the European system which obeys other imperatives - multinationals, release of funding - cannot be fully compared. But we must not delude ourselves. Jean-Yves Le Drian is a convinced European and knows the situation well. When he points to the slow reaction, the image is perhaps exaggerated. But the problem is, well and truly, there. Real, concrete and constant.
According to all the information coming back to us, the situation is worse than what he describes... If we look closely, we haven't really been talking about a mission in Mali for six months, but rather two years. And this mission aimed at strengthening the country's security capacities is still not in place! And if we take a look at the latest crisis missions (with a civil-military component) launched in recent months (Eucap Niger, Eucap Nestor, Euavsec South Sudan), the development time is not only long. But the implementation on the ground, too, is also slow. These three missions, after a long month, are not yet fully operational! This is a fundamental problem to which European leaders must respond. If Europe counts in months and years to react to a crisis situation, the political and security situation on the ground has already changed (Mali, Libya prove it). And the credibility of the European Union takes a hit.
We can't go on like this anymore ! A good deadline for the conduct of a crisis mission - taking into account multinational imperatives - should be of the order of a week for an initial crisis response and 3 months, maximum, for the deployment of the first elements - effective - of a mission. It is in this niche and with this objective that the European actors should register and reflect on how to adapt the structures, the procedures, the men, the logistics...
(*) The minister is on an international tour to "present the defense white paper" which takes him after Brussels to London, Washington and then Strasbourg (in front of the European Parliament)
Also read the latest articles published on: EUTM Mali
