Europese defensie-top: succes bestrijding piraterij opent deuren voor verdere militaire samenwerking (en)

The EU operation taking place off the coast of Somalia has checked pirate activity and secured food access to those in need on the mainland. The operation is also an opportunity for the EU to improve cooperation in the area of defence. At the conclusion of the meeting of defence ministers in Göteborg on Tuesday, discussions focused on, among other things, ongoing EU operations in countries outside the Union.

Press conference, 29/9

Since the commencement of the EU military operation in the Gulf of Aden last year, almost 280.000 tonnes of food have been escorted to those in need in Somalia, as ships from the UN food programme have been guided to safety. Altogether 68 pirates have been taken into custody, of whom many have been taken to Kenya to face legal proceedings. The EU ministers for defence opened the second and final day of their informal meeting with a discussion on the operation known as Atalanta. It was recently extended by another 12 months and will continue until the end of next year.

“We can learn many lessons from Atalanta, for example about the cooperation between military actors and the merchant fleets, which works well. This also raises the issue of establishing a more modern communications system for information exchange between the EU countries during this type of operation”, says Swedish Minister for Defence Sten Tolgfors, who hosted the ministerial meeting.

Mr Tolgfors also drew parallels between Monday’s discussions on improved civilian-military cooperation in the Baltic Sea and what lessons could be learnt from this.

Increased involvement

As the operation continues, the EU seeks to intensify its engagement in Somalia itself. During today’s discussions, it became apparent that the EU would like to examine the possibilities of providing further support to development and state-building, via the African Union activities in the area. The ministers also directed their attention to the legal proceedings that are underway in Somalia’s neighbour Kenya against suspected pirates handed over by the EU.

Althea, the EU-led operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was also discussed on Tuesday morning. The political situation in the country is still complicated, which creates uncertainty about how the continued EU presence is to be organised. At the ministerial meeting, there was widespread agreement that future military operations should be remodelled to focus on training the country's armed forces. When this transition can take place is as yet unknown.

“We very much hope that this can happen in the near future. But we know that the work in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires some effort and demands that we are vigilant about the domestic political situation”, said Javier Solana i, High Representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, at the press conference following the meeting.

Defence industry competitiveness

The EU defence industry was also on the agenda. For the past couple of years, efforts have been under way within the EU to strengthen the competitiveness of the defence industry. This involves creating a more open market for defence equipment with common rules and more competitive procurement. The defence ministers discussed how this work should be moved forward. Also discussed at the meeting was a preliminary budget proposal for the European Defence Agency (EDA).

“I am very pleased that there was strong support for increased transparency and competitiveness. An open market for defence equipment is essential for our companies to be able to compete on the world market. The issue of reduced state support was also emphasised. Following on from today's discussion, we hope to reach strong conclusions at the next meeting of defence ministers in November and give the EDA a clear mandate to continue with this work”, says Sten Tolgfors.

The ministerial meeting concluded with a discussion on Afghanistan.

“Our discussions did not focus primarily on the military presence, but rather on how the EU can coordinate its work with that of others, for example, the UN and NATO”, says Sten Tolgfors.