At the Helsinki European Council on 10 and 11 December 1999, EU heads of state and government laid the foundations for various permanent political and military bodies: the Political and Security Committee (PSC), the EU Military Committee and Committee for Civilian Crisis Management (European Council, 1999; Davis Cross, 2010, p. 11). In the short and medium term, these actors would enable the EU to enforce its responsibilities in conflict prevention and crisis management (Council of the EU, 2001). The Council of Ministers of the then-existing Western European Union outlined such responsibilities in the June 1992 Petersberg Declaration (Pagani, 1998, p. 738). It included humanitarian and rescue tasks, peace-keeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management (WEU Council of Ministers, 1992, p. 6).

One year later, from 7 to 11 December 2000, EU leaders met in Nice to give the green light to the establishment of the EUMC within the framework of a common European policy on security and defence (European Parliament, 2000; EEAS, 2022). The EU ministers elevated the EUMC to the highest military body within the Council’s institutional framework through Decision 2001/79/CFSP (Council of the EU, 2001). Its tasks include planning and executing military missions and operations under the Union’s CSDP while promoting military capability development (Austrian Defence Ministry, 2021, p. 51).