Speeches 2006
Minister of Defence Dr. Seppo Kääriäinen at the hearing of the European Union's Committee on Foreign Affairs
Distinguished Members of the European Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank you for this opportunity; it is an honour for me to be here today.
We are soon approaching the end of Finland's EU Presidency and with regard to ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy) matters, the most significant meetings are behind us now. During this session, I will try to give you a comprehensive picture of the development during the Finnish presidency, with particular attention on some important events.
The discussions of the Council meeting with defence ministers last Monday were fruitful. We had an exchange of views on the development of military capabilities, civil-military coordination, the ongoing crisis management operations and issues related to the European Defence Agency.
Work on military capability development has moved forward and we now have finalised the Force Catalogue (FC 06) as part of the Headline Goal 2010. According to the roadmap on HG2010, this was the task of the Finnish Presidency. Therefore it was one of our main objectives during the Presidency and we can be very satisfied with this result being finalised in quite a demanding timeline. FC 06 is a key milestone which allows us to better understand Member States contributions both in qualitative and quantitative terms and provides a sound basis for follow-on work. We also brought forward the Scrutiny, Assessment and Evaluation process. This will help the incoming Presidency Germany to continue the Headline Goal 2010 work towards the Progress Catalogue.
Another important new achievement on which the EU has been working on a few years now is the Battlegroups Concept. By January 2007 the EU will have the Full Operational Capability to undertake two battlegroup size operations of rapid response, including the ability to launch two such operations nearly simultaneously. It is important to note that almost all Member States participate in this cooperation. In my view, it demonstrates the willingness of the Member States to cooperate and take forward European Security and Defence Policy. Finland is also participating in the first stand-by period of the Full Operational Capability with a Battlegroup formed together with Germany and the Netherlands. Yesterday I visited Leipheim, a city close to Ulm in southern Germany where the German-Dutch-Finnish Battle Group was participating in an exercise. My visit convinced me that the preparations are on time and that this Battle Group will operationally ready on the 1st of January 2007.
New achievements are valuable and strengthen the credibility of ESDP in the eyes of the media and the public. They also create great expectations towards capability of the union. We have taken many steps forward, but it is important to remember that a lot remains to be done.
Regarding capability development, I would lastly like to mention the need for good EU-NATO cooperation that was emphasised by many Member States. The Council therefore noted with satisfaction that the EU-NATO Capability Group had continued to play its key role to ensure transparent and coherent work, where requirements overlap.
As the Presidency, Finland has taken Civil-Military Coordination forward by focusing on situational awareness. The purpose has been to examine how a comprehensive approach to operations can be further enhanced through better information sharing between the EU crisis management actors. Our efforts have been based on the work of previous Presidencies and take into account parallel work that is undertaken within the union. The document on improving information sharing in support of EU crisis management operations was noted by the PSC, and the importance of continuity in work on Civil-Military Coordination was underlined in the Council. The initiative of UK, Austria and Finland is now concluded, but we are very happy to note that the German Presidency will continue the efforts. The civil-military coordination has become an integral part of the EU's everyday work.
Let me now turn to operations:
EUFOR RD Congo has been a success and we will have to make sure that it will be a success till the very end of the operation. The events that took place one week ago show that there still is a risk of violence. However, the local authorities handled the situation successfully and there was no need for MONUC and EUFOR to interfere. From now on it is important to ensure, that all parties refrain from violence and respect the electoral process and its results. The situation in Congo was also discussed in a joint session together with the Foreign Ministers, addressing the situation after the second round of elections and also looking to the future. We acknowledged the vital role played by the EUSEC and EUPOL. It is important to note that the EU will remain committed to the region even after the military operation ends.
The Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina was addressed on the basis of the briefing by the Operation Commander General Reith. We discussed the ongoing six-monthly mission review process and the conditions for a Council decision in December 2006 to start the transition to a reduced and reconfigured force. Political setbacks in Bosnia, lack of progress in important reform areas and political uncertainties in the region are worrying. However it was generally agreed that this has not had an impact on the security situation in Bosnia. Any decisions concerning the future of the operation will of course be based on a careful assessment of the regional situation. In this connection General Reith has used a good expression 'events driven approach'.
Regarding Sudan/Darfur, the situation remains a matter of great concern. Ministers highlighted the need to continue to bring pressure by the EU and all relevant international actors to the Government of Sudan to accept UNSCR 1706. We also welcomed the UN supporting package to AU AMIS Operation. Ministers further emphasised the need to continue the agreed EU military support to AMIS until the end of its mandate on 31 December, and to consider what further support might be required should AMIS be further extended.
Also the situation in Afghanistan and EU's role in the country was brought up during our joint session with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs. The EU is providing collectively a significant financial contribution and the Member States have made an important contribution to the NATO/ISAF operation.
The Council also addressed some issues related to the European Defence Agency before the Steering Board convened in its ministerial format. Member States agreed on a budget for 2007 and the guidelines of the work programme. Concerning the three-year financial framework no agreement was reached due to differing opinions on a principal rather than money-related level. For the EDA, however, the agreement on the budget for 2007 was of primary importance at this stage.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Regarding ESDP-matters, the Finnish Presidency has taken forward the current agenda. ESDP is one of the areas where cooperation within the EU goes forward. The fact that the new Constitutional Treaty was not approved has not slowed down cooperation in the area of ESDP. The most important decisions have been approved already: establishment of the EDA, Solidarity Clause (manmade or natural disasters) and EU Battlegroups. We have also enjoyed a broad public support that should be taken as an encouragement to continue to further develop the ESDP.
In my view, the Presidency has two key functions with regard to ESDP issues. On one hand, the Presidency brings continuity and takes forward issues that Member States have together agreed in the ESDP mandate. Most issues carry over many Presidencies and therefore cooperation between succeeding presidencies is important. I am extremely happy to say that we have had excellent relations with Austria and Germany in terms of preparation and conduct of our Presidency.
On the other hand, the Presidency brings national flavour to the ESDP agenda and takes forward issues where the Presidency has special expertise. For Finland this has been civil-military coordination, where we addressed in particular situational awareness in crisis management operations. We have been happy to note, that other member states have appreciated the efforts done in this regard.
The Presidency is also in a position to organise events and seminars in order to broaden and deepen the agenda. Finland organised two expert seminars, the first of which focused on situational awareness in civil-military coordination. The seminar brought together a variety of EU crisis management expertise from different operations. This helped us to formulate some practical proposals how EU's action can be improved in operations. The second seminar dealt with Battlegroups with the objective to exchange views and share experiences with regard to the incoming Full Operational Capability. There are no open issues but the expert discussions proved very useful as the seminar brought together national experts dealing with BG-issues.
Dear Members of the European Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to conclude by making two additional points.
First, I would like to stress the importance of discussions between the Council and the parliament. The interest and goal of both of these institutions is to strengthen and develop the ESDP.
My second point concerns the relation between people and the EU. In this relation the key word is confidence. EU-policy must give value added to each country's national policy. This is especially important when we are talking about security matters.
Thank you for your attention.