by Paula Espuelas, European Defence Researcher at Finabel – European Army Interoperability Centre
The Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) has launched on the 12th of November 2019 the 3rd wave of development, that consist on 13 new projects. These projects focus mainly on the operational framework and on the capabilities of the different States (Béraud-Sudreau, Efstathiou, & Hannigan, May 2019)[1], which will enable the 25 participating States to stablish a good ground for further cooperation within the “European diversity” (Gros-Verheyde, November 2019)[2].
The aim of the new 13 PESCO activities is to create a “gradual shift from isolated projects towards planned and impact-based cooperation activities with the objective to establish a more coherent European capability landscape” (PESCO, 2019)[3]. This is the reason the 13 new projects are centered on “enhancing EU collaborative actions” and training.
The 3rd wave of development is marked by a strong trend in research and development of high technologies and techniques used in the cyber domain and space, and putting less focus on the other domains; as well a focus on enhancing EU collaborative actions as well as on capability development on sea, air and space (European Council, 12 November 2019)[4].
| PROGRAM | LED BY | PARTICIPANTS |
| Integrated European Joint Training and simulation Centre (EUROSIM) | HU | Hungary, France, Germany, Poland, Slovenia |
| EU Cyber Academia and Innovation Hub (EU CAIH) | PT | Portugal, Spain |
| Special Operations Forces Medical Training Centre (SMTC) | PL | Poland, Hungary |
| CBRN Defence Training Range (CBRNDTR) | RO | Romania, France, Italy |
| European Union Network of Diving Centres (EUNDC) | RO | Romania, Bulgaria, France |
| Maritime Unmanned AntiSubmarine System (MUSAS) | PT | Portugal, France, Spain, Sweden |
| European Patrol Corvette (EPC) | IT | Italy, France |
| Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) | ES | Spain, France, Sweden |
| Cyber and Information Domain Coordination Center (CIDCC) | DE | Germany, Czechia, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain |
| Timely Warning and Interception with Space-based Theat ER surveillance (TWISTER) | FR | France, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain |
| Materials and components for technological EU competitiveness (MAC-EU) | FR | France, Portugal, Romania, Spain |
| EU Collaborative Warfare Capabilities (ECoWAR) | FR | France, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Sweden |
| European Global RPAS Insertion Architecture System | IT | Italy, France, Romania |
In the list of the 13 new PESCO projects, we can perceive the integration of the different states in the missions. While the 4 states that are the basis of PESCO, France-Germany-Italy-Spain participate in 12 of the 13 projects, the leadership is divided as well between Southern and Eastern countries, fomenting the integration and the participation amongst these missions.
The most relevant and the most numerous projects are those concerning the training and facilities, which they seek to facilitate further cooperation between the armies by creating some common uniform ground which would facilitate the cooperation. The projects focus on different aspects, such as tactical training and in simulations (EUROSIM), a common investigation of cyber defense and cyber security (EU CAIH), a standardized and enhanced medical training to support the Special Operations Forces (SMTC), a standardized chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear Defense (CBRNDTR), and an enhancement and coordination of the diving centers to grant a better support to CSDP missions (EUNDC)
These projects will allow to establish a uniformity in tactical training and in simulation, thus allowing a further integration and connection of the different armies.
These new projects consist in a big progress towards the implementation of the principle of cooperation and coordination of the EU participating members in the PESCO, and they are solid fundaments that will allow to keep up with the momentum in the European defense collaboration created by the Lisbon Treaty.
[1] https://www.iiss.org/blogs/research-paper/2019/05/pesco
[2]https://www.bruxelles2.eu/en/2019/11/09/the-third-wave-of-pesco-projects-a-lot-more-high-tech-the-list-exclusive/
[3] https://pesco.europa.eu/
[4] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/41333/pesco-projects-12-nov-2019.pdf
