Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) – Factsheet – European Union External Action
PESCO is a Treaty-based framework and process to deepen defence cooperation amongst EU Member States who are capable and willing to do so. The aim is to jointly develop defence capabilities and make them available for EU military operations. This will thus enhance the EU’s capacity as an international security partner, also contributing to protection of Europeans and maximise the effectiveness of defence spending.
The difference between PESCO and other forms of cooperation is the binding nature of the commitments undertaken by participating Member States. However, participation remains voluntary and decision-making will remain in the hands of participating Member States.
They commit to the following (http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/31511/171113-pesco-notification.pdf):
Based on the collective benchmarks identified in 2007
, participating Member States subscribe to the following commitments:
1.Regularly increasing defence budgets in real terms, in order to reach agreed objectives.
2.Successive medium – term increase in defence investment expenditure to 20% of total defence spending (collective benchmark) in order to fill strategic capability gaps by participating in defence capabilities projects in accordance
with CDP and Coordinated An
nual Review (
CARD).
3. Increasing joint and “collaborative” strategic defence capabilities projects.
Such joint and collaborative projects should be supported through the
European Defence Fund if required and as appropriate.
4.
Increasing the share of
expenditure allocated to defence research and
technology with a view to nearing the 2% of total defence spending (collective
benchmark).
5.
Establishment of a regular review of these commitments (with the aim of
endorsement by the Council)
“
(b) bring their
defence apparatus into line with each other as far as possible, particularly by
harmonising the identification of their military needs, by pooling and, where appropriate,
specialising their defence means and capabilities, and by encouraging cooperation in
the
fields of training and logistics.”
6.
Playing a substantial role in capability development within the EU, including
within the framework of CARD, in order to ensure the availability of the
necessary capabilities for achieving the level of ambition in Eur
ope.
7.
Commitment to support the CARD to the maximum extent possible
acknowledging the voluntary nature of the review and individual constraints
of participating Member States.
8.
Commitment to the intensive involvement of a future European Defence
Fund in mul
tinational procurement with identified EU added value.
9.
Commitment to drawing up harmonised requirements for all capability
development projects agreed by participating Member States.
4
10.
Commitment to considering the joint use of existing capabilities in order
to
optimize the available resources and improve their overall effectiveness.
11.
Commitment to ensure increasing efforts in the cooperation on cyber
defence, such as information sharing, training and operational support.
“
(c) take concrete measures to enhance
the availability, interoperability, flexibility and
deployability of their forces, in particular by identifying common objectives regarding the
commitment of forces, including possibly reviewing their national decision
–
making
procedures.”
12.
With regard to
availability and deployability of the forces, the participating
Member States are committed to:
Making available formations, that are strategically deployable, for the
realization of the EU LoA, in addition to a potential deployment of an EUBG.
This
commitment does neither cover a readiness force, a standing force nor a
stand by force.
Developing a solid instrument (e.g. a data base) which will only be accessible
to participating Member States and contributing nations to record available
and rapidly d
eployable capabilities in order to facilitate and accelerate the
Force Generation Process.
Aiming for fast
–
tracked political commitment at national level, including
possibly reviewing their national decision
–
making procedures.
Providing substantial suppor
t within means and capabilities to CSDP
operations (e.g. EUFOR) and missions (e.g. EU Training Missions)
–
with
personnel, materiel, training, exercise support, infrastructure or otherwise
–
which have been unanimously decided by the Council, without preju
dice to
any decision on contributions to CSDP operations and without prejudice to
any constitutional constraints,
Substantially contributing to EU BG by confirmation of contributions in
principle at least four years in advance, with a stand
–
by period in li
ne with the
EU BG concept, obligation to carry out EU BG exercises for the EU BG force
package (framework nation) and/or to participate in these exercises (all EU
Member States participating in EU BG).
Simplifying and standardizing cross border military
tr
ansport
in Europe for
enabling rapid deployment of military materiel and personnel.
13.With regard to interoperability of forces, the participating Member States
are committed to:
Developing the interoperability of their forces
by:
–
Commitment to agree on com
mon evaluation and validation criteria for
the EU BG force package aligned with NATO standards while
maintaining national certification.
5
–
Commitment to agree on common technical and operational standards of
forces acknowledging that they need to ensure
interoperability with
NATO.
Optimizing multinational structures: participating Member States could
commit
to joining and playing an active role in the main existing and possible
future structures partaking in European external action in the military field
(EUROCORPS,
EUROMARFOR,
EUROGENDFOR,
MCCE/ATARES/SEOS).
14.Participating Member States will strive for an ambitious approach to
common funding of military CSDP operations and missions, beyond what
will be defined as common cost according to the Athena council
decision.
“
(d) work together to ensure that they take the necessary measures to make good, including
through multinational approaches, and without prejudice to undertakings in this regard
within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the shortfalls
perceived in the framework of
the ‘Capability Development Mechanism.’”
15.Help to overcome capability shortcomings identified under the Capability
Development Plan (CDP) and CARD. These capability projects shall increase
Europe’s strategic autonomy and stren
gthen the European Defence
Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB).
16.Consider as a priority a European collaborative approach in order to fill
capability shortcomings identified at national level and, as a general rule,
only use an exclusively national ap
proach if such an examination has been
already carried out.
17.Take part in at least one project under the PESCO which develops or
provides capabilities identified as strategically relevant by Member States.
“
(e) take part, where appropriate, in the developm
ent of major joint or European equipment
programmes in the framework of the European Defence Agency.”
18.Commitment to the use of EDA as the European forum for joint capability
development and consider the OCCAR as the preferred collaborative
program managin
g organization.
19.Ensure that all projects with regard to capabilities led by participating Member States make the European defence industry more competitive via an appropriate industrial policy which avoids unnecessary overlap.
20. Ensure that the cooperation
programmes – which must only benefit entities
which demonstrably provide added value on EU territory – and the acquisition strategies adopted by the participating Member States will have a positive impact on the EDTIB
Robin Edgar
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