| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning |
| Series Title | In Focus |
| Series Details | 19.3.03 |
| Publication Date | 19/03/2003 |
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus |
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Whilst the Iraq crisis and the divided response of EU governments to possible military action has highlighted the weaknesses of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, the European Security and Defence Policy was strengthened on 14 March 2003 when the European Union and NATO signed an agreement on the security of information. The deal, which will allow the exchange of confidential information between the two organisations, paves the way for the European Union to take over the military operation currently led by NATO in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The agreement was signed at an informal meeting of defence ministers from the 15 Member States in Athens on 14 March 2003 following a meeting earlier in the week between the EU's Political and Security Committee and the North Atlantic Council when much of the work concerning the EU's assumption of NATO's role in Macedonia was completed. The progress means that the 'Berlin Plus' package of measures that will bind NATO and the EU together in handling future crises in Europe is virtually completed. The concept of 'Berlin Plus' originated at a NATO meeting in Berlin in 1996 when important decisions were made that gave the Western European Union the ability to borrow NATO assets and capabilities for European-led crisis-management operations in the belief that it was not necessary to duplicate military capabilities in the EU, the WEU and NATO. These Berlin decisions were further developed at the NATO Summit in Washington in April 1999 hence the 'plus' part of the equation. The package consists of four elements:
The Berlin Plus package had been delayed by nearly three years because of objections from Turkey, which had the power to block the agreement with its power of veto in NATO. The Turkish government feared that EU operations could endanger Ankara's interests in the region, particularly in Cyprus, but even after receiving guarantees from the United States and Britain in December 2001 it continued to object because Greece then asked for similar assurances. A breakthrough was made at the EU's Copenhagen Summit in December 2002 following a change in government in Turkey and immense French and German pressure on Abdullah Gul, the new Turkish prime minister. Following the signing of the agreement in Athens Lord Robertson, NATO's Secretary General, announced on 17 March 2003 that the North Atlantic Council had 'decided to terminate Operation Allied Harmony in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as of 31 March with a view to the EU commencing a successor operation'. The EU's foreign ministers formally approved the mission at a meeting of the External Relations Council on 19 March 2003, agreeing that the operation is anticipated to last six months and welcoming the participation of fourteen third states. Around 300 troops are expected to be deployed in Macedonia, in the first real test of the viability of European Security and Defence policy (ESDP). If the mission in Macedonia is successful then the EU could take over NATO's larger role in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004, following a first joint NATO-EU exercise that is planned for November 2003. Helen Bower Compiled: Wednesday, 19 March 2003 Representatives from the European Union and NATO signed an agreement on the security of information on 14 March 2003, enabling the exchange of confidential information between the two organisations. The agreement paves the way for the European Union to take over the military operation currently led by NATO in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
