Defence chiefs set to back ‘big three’ peace force plan

By David Cronin

Date: 01/04/04

THE European Union's ambitions to undertake peacekeeping operations in distant trouble spots are due to receive a boost next week as defence ministers approve the idea of having a 1,500-strong rapid response force on standby for humanitarian emergencies.

A proposal by the UK, France and Germany on developing the capability of deploying such a force within two weeks will be discussed by defence ministers at their Brussels meeting on Tuesday (6 April), the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide.

Known in Brussels parlance as 'the battle groups' concept, it is designed to have the EU's military structures on a state of "high readiness", so they could help prevent similar events to the central African slaughter recurring.

EU diplomats say the model which the 'big three' states have in mind is based on last year's Operation Artemis in Congo.

The Union's first ever autonomous military mission (without recourse to NATO assets), this French-led mission is widely regarded as having been successful in preventing ethnic violence in the Ituri province from escalating.

"The discussions have been about having something very flexible," said one insider.

"Although Artemis is the main model, it has been made clear this concept would not be limited to Africa. It could be used in other continents too."

Because next week's meeting is informal, it will not be able to give the necessary rubber-stamping for the concept to become reality. However, diplomats believe the favourable response that the blueprint is likely to receive should pave the way for Ireland's EU presidency to secure agreement on it by the end of June.

Despite their differences over Iraq, the 'big three' have declared their intention to work together on the battle groups concept. They have managed to offset potentially negative reactions from smaller member states by inviting them to actively participate in bringing the plan to fruition and by stressing that the concept would only come into play in operations mandated by the UN.

The possibility that the EU could play a lead role in peacekeeping in Sudan has been mooted recently by diplomats. More than 10,000 people are estimated to have been killed and as many as 800,000 made homeless since fighting erupted between the Sudanese army and two rebel groups in the Darfur province early last year.

However, the UN has not yet made any request to the Union to intervene in Sudan.

The UN is currently devising plans for operations in Haiti, Burundi and Côte d'Ivoire, and is examining the possibility of a fresh influx of troops into Cyprus. These would bolster the existing 1,262 soldiers and police in the Mediterranean island if a peace settlement is reached due to the current talks on its reunification; among their tasks would be supervising the return of Greek Cypriots to properties confiscated from them by the Turkish army during the 1974 invasion.

The deployment of troops in Congo followed a request from Kofi Annan, the UN's secretary-general, to Javier Solana, the Union's high representative for foreign affairs.

When Artemis concluded last autumn, the EU's chief-of- staff General Rainer Schuwirth declared that, if the Union were to be able to sustain such missions in the future, it would need to improve its military air transport capacity. The Union's dearth of such a capability was exposed during the operation, when it had to rely on aircraft from Ukraine.

Jean-Yves Haine, a researcher with the EU's Institute for Security Studies in Paris, described the lack of strategic airlift for operations as one of the Union's major problems.

But he also said that the battle groups concept proves the Union's military activities are moving from the "quantitative to the qualitative" phase.

Until now, much of the focus has been on creating an inventory of the EU's military assets, whereas policymakers are becoming increasingly concerned with the logistics of real operations.

European Union Defence Ministers are due to meet in Brussels on 5-6 April 2004 and are expected to approve plans for a European Rapid Reaction Force, to be on standby for humanitarian emergencies.