What contribution of the military to the EU’s Comprehensive Approach to external action?

On 15 January, 2014, the EUISS hosted the first seminar of a series of events co-organised with the French MOD think tank, l'Institut de Recherche stratégique de l’Ecole militaire (IRSEM). The objective of the EUISS-IRSEM project is to contribute to the elaboration of a common understanding of the dimensions and specificities of military and civilian tasks/personnel in crisis management and their contribution to the development of a Comprehensive Approach. An area of special focus is to be the role of the military within CSDP. These issues are set to be explored through a series of closed seminars which will bring together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from a wide range of national and EU institutions. This particular event was chaired by Thierry Tardy, and was attended by around 30 participants. The three main speakers were: Admiral Jacques Launay, first Head of Mission EUCAP Nestor and Inspector General of the French Armed Forces, General Yves de Kermabon, former Head of EULEX Kosovo Mission and Special Advisor to the Executive Secretary General of the EEAS, and Catherine Woollard, Director, EPLO, Brussels.