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European Defence Book task force

01 January 2002

The first meeting of the European Defence Book Task Force took place in Paris on Monday, 13 May, 2002. The purpose of the meeting was to establish the mission, the method, the structure and the timetable of the European Defence Book (EDB). The main points of agreement were as follows:

1. Mission and Focus
Following the mandate set by the Belgian and Spanish presidencies the mission would be to write a single work that would explain developments in European defence policy to a broad audience as well as generate grounded and reasoned recommendations for moving forward. In particular, an EDB would examine the use of military means and forces in pursuit of the EU’s policies. Although focused upon ESDP, it would then consider relations with Pillar One and Pillar Two security tools.

2. Method of Work
The EDB would be a Brahimi-type report that whilst a document belonging to the EU would be the sole responsibility of the authors. The Task Force would be advised by a larger group as part of an ongoing and transparent process of interaction between the Task Force and representatives from the fifteen ministries of defence together with the Head of the EU Military Staff. The approach would be based upon the development of possible scenarios for EU-led operations. These would act as the environmental drivers to enable the Task Force to assess the relationship between existing institutions and capabilities and future needs.

3. Timetable
Ideal completion and launch of the European Defence Book would be June 2003 and, in any case, no later than December 2003.