PESCO

European Union flag

PESCO ( English Permanent Structured Cooperation , PESCO for short , German Permanent Structured Cooperation , SSZ for short ) describes the cooperation between the member states of the European Union that want to become particularly involved in the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). This can increase the interoperability between EU member states in the defense sector, e.g. B. a synchronization of the national armed forces or the implementation of common armament projects. The dismantling of bureaucratic barriers should lead to a kind of "military Schengen " and could in the long term prepare for the establishment of a European army . This long-term goal is often referred to as the “European Defense Union”.

The foreign and defense ministers of 25 of the 28 EU countries informed the European Council in November and December 2017 that they would go together in defense in the future. The two EU states Denmark and Malta and the then still-EU member Great Britain are not included.

Background and development

In the Maastricht Treaty, which was common foreign and security policy (CFSP) of the European Union justified. The common security and defense policy was seen as an integral part of the CFSP from the very beginning . For various reasons (e.g. the neutrality of some member states or the unresolved relationship between the EU and NATO), the common defense of the European Union has so far hardly been achieved. For the implementation of European military missions (e.g. in the context of the Petersberg tasks ) one has always relied on NATO and thus on the assistance of the USA . This dependency should be reduced by strengthening one's own abilities.

PESCO is considered the first step towards a largely common defense policy of the member states of the European Union (EU). Foreign and defense ministers from most of the 28 EU countries signed the document that sealed PESCO in a ceremony in Brussels in November 2017. In addition to joint armaments projects, the EU-wide development of standing units and corresponding capacities is to follow in the future . The notification certificate was signed by 23 of the 28 EU member states, including neutral Austria . The Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz emphasized that the cooperation was in line with Austrian neutrality . The voluntary cooperation is maintained as long as it does not affect areas that contradict the Austrian Neutrality Act (e.g. joint combat troops or arms deliveries to warring states). Kurz positively highlighted possible joint armaments purchases or cooperation in the field of training. Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Portugal and the United Kingdom did not initially sign. Ireland and Portugal signed retrospectively. Denmark traditionally does not participate in the common European security and defense policy, Malta did not want to meet the participation criteria, which include a regular increase in defense spending, and the UK had already applied to leave the EU on March 29, 2017 .

According to the weekly newspaper Die Zeit , the establishment in November 2017, after years of negotiations, was driven by US policy towards NATO. The European alliance is an answer to Donald Trump . The EU member states fear that the USA will increasingly turn away from the European Union under this president. This was also confirmed by the German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen ( CDU ) on the sidelines of the founding meeting. Especially after the election of the American president, it is important to position yourself independently as a European in order to be able to solve possible problems in the security area with neighboring regions.

See also : History and feasibility of a European army

Legal basis

The legal bases are Art. 42 and Art. 46 EU Treaty and Protocol No. 10 to the EU Treaty. Participation in the permanent structured cooperation is voluntary ( graded integration ). Since the cooperation is regulated under primary law, there is no case of enhanced cooperation . In contrast to other decisions within the framework of the CSDP , the establishment of PESCO only requires a qualified majority in the EU Council . It was founded at the meeting on December 11, 2017.

Participating states

dark blue: PESCO members
light blue: other EU members

	Surname
01	Belgium
02	Bulgaria
03	Germany
04th	Estonia
05	Finland
06th	France
07th	Greece
08th	Ireland
09	Italy
10	Croatia
11	Latvia
12	Lithuania
13	Luxembourg
14th	Netherlands
15th	Austria
16	Poland
17th	Portugal
18th	Romania
19th	Sweden
20th	Slovakia
21st	Slovenia
22nd	Spain
23	Czech Republic
24	Hungary
25th	Cyprus

requirements

European Defense Agency logo

In order to participate in PESCO, Member States must meet two conditions in particular:

1. They must continuously develop their defense capabilities, in particular by participating in multinational and European equipment programs;
2. If necessary, they must be able to provide armed forces and logistical support within 5 to 30 days for a period of 30 to 120 days.

These requirements are regularly reviewed by the European Defense Agency .

Goals and commitments

PESCO is pursuing numerous measures to integrate the common defense policy. The 25 participating states have agreed on the following mandatory goals, among others:

• Regular increase in the defense budget in order to be able to achieve the common goals;
• Medium-term increase in defense spending to 20% of the defense budget;
• Implementation of joint, strategic armaments projects financed by a European Defense Fund, EDF.
• Increase spending on research to 2% of the defense budget;
• Closer cooperation in the field of cyber defense ;
• Provision of task forces and logistics for the EU battlegroups and joint CSDP missions (especially EUFOR );
• Improving the interoperability of the armed forces, their strategies and weapon systems;
• Joint funding of CSDP missions;
• More competition on the European armaments markets (“domestic armaments market”).

structure

The PESCO consists of two levels:

• Council level : Responsible for fundamental directional decisions. In this form of the EU Council , only PESCO participants are entitled to vote and usually decide unanimously.
• Project level : The various PESCO projects are organized independently by the participating member states.

Despite close cooperation at the European level, the individual member states retain sole responsibility and sovereignty over their armed forces. However, there is coordination by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , the European Defense Agency , the European Union Military Staff , the European External Action Service and the European Union Military Committee .

Projects

At the moment the member states have agreed on 17 different projects, although by no means every member takes part in all projects. Each project is led by one or two members. The Federal Republic of Germany is currently in the lead in four of the projects (European Medical Command, Network of logistic Hubs in Europe and support to Operations, European Union Training Mission Competence Center (EU TMCC) and EUFOR Crisis Response Operation Core (EUFOR CROC)). The current projects are:

Overview of the projects

Project
European Medical Command (EMC)	N	N	O	N	N	P	N	N	O	L.	N	N	N	P	N	O	O	P	N	N	P	P	N	P	P	8th
European Secure Software-defined Radio (ESSOR)	N	P	N	N	N	N	O	P	L.	P	N	N	N	P	N	N	N	P	P	N	N	N	N	O	N	7th
Network of logistic hubs in Europe and support to operations	N	P	P	P	P	N	N	N	O	L.	P	P	N	P	N	N	N	P	N	P	N	P	P	P	N	13
Military Mobility	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	O	L.	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	L.	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	24
European Union Training Mission Competence Center (EU TMCC)	P	P	N	P	N	P	N	N	L.	L.	N	N	P	L.	N	N	P	P	N	P	P	N	O	L.	P	14th
European Training Certification Center for European Armies	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	P	N	N	L.	N	N	N	N	N	P	N	N	N	O	N	3
Energy Operational Function (EOF)	N	P	N	O	N	N	N	N	L.	O	N	N	O	P	N	N	N	O	N	O	N	N	N	P	N	4th
Deployable Military Disaster Relief Capability Package	P	N	O	N	P	N	P	N	N	P	N	N	P	L.	N	N	N	N	N	P	N	N	N	N	N	7th
Maritime (Semi-) Autonomous Systems for Mine Countermeasures (MAS MCM)	N	L.	N	N	N	N	O	N	O	N	P	N	P	P	N	N	N	P	N	P	P	N	N	O	N	7th
Harbor & Maritime Surveillance and Protection (HARMSPRO)	N	O	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	P	N	P	L.	N	N	N	O	N	P	N	N	N	N	N	4th
Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance	N	N	P	P	P	N	N	N	N	N	L.	N	P	P	N	N	N	N	N	O	N	N	N	P	N	7th
Cyber ​​Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform	P	O	N	P	N	N	O	O	N	O	L.	P	P	P	N	O	N	N	N	P	N	N	O	P	N	8th
Cyber ​​Rapid Response Teams and Mutual Assistance in Cyber ​​Security	N	O	N	N	P	N	O	P	P	O	O	N	N	N	N	L.	N	P	N	N	P	N	O	P	N	7th
Strategic Command and Control (C2) System for CSDP Missions and Operations	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	P	N	N	N	P	N	N	O	N	N	P	N	N	N	L.	N	4th
Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle / Amphibious Assault Vehicle / Light Armored Vehicle	N	N	N	N	N	O	N	N	N	N	P	O	N	L.	N	N	N	N	N	O	N	P	N	O	N	3
Indirect fire support	N	N	O	N	N	O	N	N	N	N	N	O	N	P	N	N	N	N	N	O	N	L.	O	O	N	2
EUFOR Crisis Response Operation Core (CROC)	N	O	N	P	N	O	N	N	L.	L.	N	N	N	L.	N	N	N	N	N	O	N	N	O	L.	N	5

Legend

L.	ladder
P	Project participant
O	observer
N	Non-participants

See also

• Common security and defense policy
• European Security and Defense Union
• European Army
• European intervention initiative , since mid-2018, with 10 countries (November 2018)

literature

• The EU army has long been taking shape , Die Zeit , November 17, 2018, by Steffen Dobbert

Web links

• Protocol on permanent structured cooperation of 13 December 2007 (contractual basis of the European Union)
• PESCO: Reaching your goal with structure , Federal Ministry of Defense, April 27, 2017
• Communication from Pesco participants to the EU Council of November 13, 2017
• Timeline: European cooperation in the area of ​​security and defense from June 25, 2018, accessed on September 12, 2018
• Permanent Structured Cooperation: first collaborative projects . The first PESCO projects (English), 6 pages (turn right!), And the respective national parliamentarians responsible; Permanent structured cooperation PESCO, decided by the "Council of the European Union" in March 2018
• "Fact sheet" on PESCO , March 2018, quoted by Federica Mogherini , Vice-President
• PESCO / SSZ : EU strengthens cooperation in the field of security and defense, in German

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Brief information: The "Permanent Structured Cooperation" according to the Treaty on European Union - Scientific Service of the German Bundestag
2. ^ Matthias Gebauer and Peter Müller: Europe is growing up. In: Spiegel Online . November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017 . 
3. ↑ EU Defense Union. Under one flag for Europe (in German, optionally also in English or French)
4. ↑ ^{a b} Markus Becker: 23 EU states found a military union. In: Spiegel Online. November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017 . 
5. ↑ tagesschau.de:EU on the way to the defense union
6. ^ ^{A b} Pesco: Basic document for the EU Defense Union has been signed. In: Zeit Online. November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} EU Defense Pact adopted: "No shaking of neutrality. In: Die Presse . November 14, 2017, accessed on November 15, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Ingrid Steiner-Gashi: EU marches in the direction of the Defense Union: What does that mean for Austria? In: Courier. November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b} EU states decide on defense union . Wirtschaftswoche from December 11, 2017, accessed on December 12, 2017
10. ↑ Protocol No. 10 on permanent structured cooperation under Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union.
11. ↑ The European Defense Fund: € 5.5 billion per year, European Commission , 7 June 2017; therein link to: Fact sheet (both German); The silent revolution in Europe's defense policy , at: euraktiv, by Amelie Lohmann, Claudia Major from the militaristic German think tank foundation Science and Politics , key message: ... a step that was previously unthinkable: The EU is promoting the arms industry.
12. ↑ Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) - Factsheet , on eeas.europa.eu, accessed on November 13, 2017
13. ↑ COUNCIL DECISION establishing the list of projects to be developed under PESCO , on eeas.europa.eu, accessed on November 20, 2018
14. ↑ Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) first collaborative PESCO projects - Overview , on eeas.europa.eu, accessed on November 20, 2018
15. ↑ http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/32020/draft-pesco-declaration-clean-10122017.pdf
16. ↑ Thomas Wiegold: Completion notification: PESCO, more cooperation in defense, in force (update): eyes straight ahead . December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
17. ↑ Establishing the list of projects to be developed under PESCO . Retrieved July 17, 2018.