EU performs test of crisis management structures

"The stability of the state of "Sarunia" is threatened by events in the neighbouring states of "Ranua" and "Celego". The last weeks saw an escalation of border skirmishes leading Sarunia to request an EU military intervention as well as a civilian mission to support border management and judicial reforms. A piracy attack on an oil tanker causes oil spill near the harbour of the city "Batela" while a cyber-attack targets the EU's local communications system. A number of EU citizens from various Member States working at the local oil refinery in West Sarunia are at risk of being attacked."

This situation is not an ongoing crisis but the complex scenario - based on a fictitious region - of the European Union's 2nd Multi-Layer Crisis Management Exercise, also known as ML14. This exercise is organised by the European External Action Service (EEAS) and will be conducted with Member States until 23 October 2014, exercising the different layers of EU crisis response and management, from the political-strategic level to the operational level.

ML14 will test for the first time the EU’s Comprehensive Approach to crises situations as well as new fast track planning procedures, within a challenging and complex scenario. It aims at improving the EU's capacity to manage crises and to rapidly implement the EU’s comprehensive approach in a changing environment, by testing the different layers of the EEAS Crisis Response System, both civilian and military, and their interaction with other EU crisis response structures. It involves the EEAS - including some EU Delegations -, the European Commission, the relevant Council instances, and a military Operations Headquarters offered by Italy and the Force Headquarters of the EU Battlegroup led by Belgium.

Agostino Miozzo, EEAS Managing Director for Crisis Response and Operational Coordination, will oversee the exercise under the authority of High Representative/Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton. The EU's Political and Security Committee will exercise its role to provide the political control and strategic direction of the proposed military CSDP operation and civilian CSDP mission.

Why are exercises important? What are the structures and processes involved? Learn more with this video:

Full press release: EU runs new crisis management exercise:

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/statements/docs/2014/140926_01_en.pdf