20 May 2021
On 11 December 2017, the Council of the EU adopted the decision to establish the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO Secretariat, 2021). PESCO aims to enhance defence cooperation and army interoperability between EU member states who are willing and able to participate (ibid). Concretely, it provides a framework to increase cooperation in the planning, development, investment, and operability of defence capabilities between the 25 participating EU member states (ibid; EDA, 2021). This way, PESCO is a collaborative effort to create “a coherent full spectrum of defence capabilities available to Member States for national and multinational (EU, NATO, UN, etc.) missions and operations” (PESCO Secretariat, 2021). It is a strong form of cooperation as participation in PESCO entails automatic subscription to the list of legally binding commitments enshrined in article 2 of Protocol 10 annexed to the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) (ibid).
So far, 46 projects are being developed under the auspices of PESCO, and one project has been closed. One of them is the project on military mobility, which has 24 participating member states and is coordinated by The Netherlands (ibid). The military mobility project seeks to create a free movement of military personnel and assets within the EU by avoiding time-consuming bureaucratic procedures (ibid). This way, the project adds to the commitment to enhance the availability, interoperability, flexibility, and deployability of their forces enshrined in article 2(c) of Protocol 10 of the TEU and supports PESCO commitment number 12 which requires participating states to simplify and standardise military transport in Europe to enable rapid deployment of military material and personnel (ibid; Latici, 2017, 2).
The European institutions took several steps in support of and complementary to the military mobility project. In 2017, the European Commission issued a joint communication on improving military mobility in the EU which identifies the conditions required for achieving military mobility and gives an overview of the hurdles to military mobility and the possible courses of action to address them (Commission Joint Communication, 2017). In March 2018, the Council established the first list of projects that ought to be developed under PESCO with military mobility in it (Council Decision 2018/340). In the same month, after the Council of the EU provided guidance to the European Commission on an action plan (Council Recommendation, 2018), the Commission adopted an action plan on military mobility (Commission Joint Communication, 2018). The action plan sets forth operational measures concerning military requirements, transport infrastructure, and regulatory and procedural issues measures. In the same year, the Council approved the Military Requirements for Military Mobility within and beyond the EU (Council Conclusions, 2018). Subsequently, in 2020, two legislative documents were adopted to facilitate military mobility: a directive on VAT exemptions for armed forces deployed abroad and an amendment to the Union’s Customs Code to regulate the movement of goods in the context of military operations (Gahler, 2020). In sum, it appears that both the EU and PESCO working in the context of military mobility in a complementary and interrelated manner.
In 2020, an interesting development regarding PESCO took place. The 2017 Council of the EU decision which established PESCO provided a legal basis to develop general conditions under which non-EU member states could be invited to participate in individual PESCO projects (art. 4(2)(g) Council Decision 2017/2315). In October 2020, the Council used this legal basis and adopted a decision establishing these general conditions (Council Decision 2020/1639). Under this Council Decision, a third state can submit a reasoned request to participate in a specific project. Upon this request, the participating member states in the project have to decide by unanimity whether they want to allow the third state to enter the project and whether the request fulfils several substantive criteria. Subsequently, the Council of the EU will also decide as to whether the third state fulfils the substantive criteria. Upon the positive decision by the Council of the EU, negotiations regarding the administrative arrangements to complete the accession of the third state shall be held between the third state and the coordinator of the specific PESCO project.
The substantive criteria under which a third state can participate in a PESCO project are stipulated in article 3 of Council Decision 2020/1639. Firstly, the third state must share the fundamental values of the EU mentioned in article 2 TEU and the objectives and principles of the EU’s Common Foreign Security Policy enshrined in art. 21 TEU. Secondly, the state must have a substantial added value to the project to achieve the project’s objectives. It must contribute to the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU. Other criteria relate to consistency with the binding PESCO commitments and the existence of a Security Information Agreement with the EU and an Administrative Arrangement with the European Defence Agency. Council Decision 2020/1639 also provides a review mechanism to periodically assess whether the third state continues to fulfil the criteria.
Recently, the possibility for third states to join PESCO projects has proven to be anything but a paper tiger. On the 6th of May 2021, the Council adopted the positive decisions regarding the requests of the United States, Canada, and Norway to participate in the project on military mobility (Council of the EU, 2021). Joseph Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, commented positively that “their expertise will contribute to the project and, with it, to improving military mobility within and beyond the EU… it will make EU defence more efficient and contribute to strengthening our security” (Council of the EU, 2021). The Netherlands, as coordinator of the military mobility project, is consequently authorised to start the negotiations on the administrative arrangements and effectively invite them to the project.
In conclusion, in the past years, PESCO and the military mobility project has quickly developed. Less than a year after establishing the conditions for third states to join PESCO projects, three states are already in the final stage of joining the PESCO projects. This, however, does not mean that PESCO and its projects are without controversy and critics (see Biscop, 2020). Nevertheless, it seems that PESCO is progressing and that, with the three new states on board, the project on military mobility has become a promising flagship project. It is beyond doubt that PESCO provides opportunities to increase international cooperation in defence matters and enhance the interoperability of armed forces (Biscop, 2018). It remains to be seen to what extent EU member states will seize the opportunities that PESCO brings.
Written by Wout DECLERCQ, Researcher at Finabel – European Army Interoperability Centre
Sources
Biscop, Sven (2020). ‘European Defence and Pesco: Don’t Waste the Chance.’ EU IDEA Policy Papers No. 1. [online] Available at: https://euidea.eu/2020/05/05/european-defence-and-pesco-dont-waste-the-chance/
Biscop, Sven. ‘European Defence: Give Pesco a Chance’. Global Politics and Strategy vol. 60, issue 3 (2018): 161-180.
Council of the EU (2021). ‘PESCO: Canada, Norway and the United States will be invited to participate in the project Military Mobility’. Consilium.europa.eu. [online] Available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/11/05/eu-defence-cooperation-council-sets-conditions-for-third-state-participation-in-pesco-projects/.
Council of the EU (2020). ‘EU defence cooperation: Council sets conditions for third-state participation in PESCO projects’. Consilium.europa.eu. [online] Available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/05/06/pesco-canada-norway-and-the-united-states-will-be-invited-to-participate-in-the-project-military-mobility/.
European Defence Agency, (2021). ‘Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)’.[online] Available at: https://eda.europa.eu/what-we-do/EU-defence-initiatives/permanent-structured-cooperation-(PESCO).
Gahler, Michael (2020). ‘Implementing the European Defence Fund and the Action Plan on Military Mobility’, The European Files. [online] Available at: https://www.europeanfiles.eu/industry/implementing-the-european-defence-fund-and-the-action-plan-on-military-mobility.
Latici, Tania (2019). ‘Military Mobility’, European Parliament Research Service. [online] Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2019/635570/EPRS_ATA(2019)635570_EN.pdf.
Latici, Tania (2020). ‘Military mobility: Infrastructure for the defence of Europe’. European Parliament Research Service. [online] Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/646188/EPRS_BRI(2020)646188_EN.pdf.
PESCO secretariat. ‘PESCO’. [online] Available at: https://pesco.europa.eu/.
PESCO secretariat. ‘Military Mobility’. [online] Available at: https://pesco.europa.eu/project/military-mobility/.
Protocol 10 to the Treaty on European Union on permanent structured cooperation established by Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union (9 May 2008), OJEU 115, 275-277.
European Commission and High Representative. ‘Joint Communication to the Parliament and the CouncilImproving Military Mobility in the European Union’ (10 November 2017),JOIN(2017) 41 final. [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52017JC0041.
European Commission and High Representative. ‘Joint Communication to the Parliament and the Council on the Action Plan on Military Mobility’ (28 March 2018), JOIN(2018) 5 final. [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=JOIN%3A2018%3A5%3AFIN.
Council of the EU. ‘Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/340 of 6 March 2018 establishing the list of projects to be developed under PESCO’, OJEU L65/24. [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32018D0340.
Council of the EU, ‘Council Recommendation of 6 March 2018 concerning a roadmap for the implementation of PESCO’, OJEU 2018/C 88/01. [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.C_.2018.088.01.0001.01.ENG.
Council of the EU. ‘Council Conclusions on Security and Defence in the context of the EU Global Strategy’ (25 June 2018), 10246/18. [online] Available at: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-10246-2018-INIT/en/pdf.
Council of the EU. ‘Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2315 of 11 December 2017 establishing permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) and determining the list of participating Member States’, OJEU L331/57. [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32017D2315&qid=1621348566137.
Council of the EU, ‘Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/1639 of 5 November 2020 establishing the general conditions under which third States could exceptionally be invited to participate in individual PESCO projects’, OJEU L371/3. [online] Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2020/1639/oj.
