EU officials have indicated that a review in 2018 might extend the MPCC's mandate to also include operations with combat elements - or so-called executive missions.
(meta data) TITLE: EU military HQ to take charge of Africa missions (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2016-09-28T09:22:12+02:00 20th Aug 2019 Join EUobserver Headline News 2019 EU Election Political Affairs Foreign Affairs Economic Affairs Justice & Home Affairs Climate & Environment Institutional Affairs Science, Tech & Research Social Affairs Nordic News EU & China EU presidency Digital Agenda Youth & Education EU smoke & mirrors Privatising immigration Very private security Magnitsky Affair Fortress Europe Secret UE 2019 EU Election Regions & Cities Europe in Review Join EUobserver About Us Privacy Policy # EU military HQ to take charge of Africa missions Von der Leyen: "We took a very important step toward a European security and defence union" (Photo: consilium.europa.eu) Andrew Rettman, Nikolaj Nielsen, Eric Maurice BRUSSELS, 6. Mar 2017, 18:50 EU states agreed to set up a new HQ for military training missions on Monday (6 March) in what some see as the nucleus of a future European army. The HQ, to be called a Military Planning and Conduct Capability facility, will be housed in an EU building on Avenue Cortenbergh in Brussels which already hosts EU military experts, the EU Military Staff. Read and decide # Join EUobserver today ## Support quality EU news ### Get instant access to all articles — and 18 year's of archives. 30 days free trial. #### Choose your plan #### Monthly ##### €15 Small monthly fee #### Yearly ##### €150 Our most popular plan #### Reduced yearly Student, retired or simply can't afford full price? No worries. Pay only €75 ### ... or join as a group #### Already a member? Login here. Mogherini: "It's a more effective way of handling our military work" (Photo: consilium.europa.eu) It will have about 30 personnel, most of whom will be pulled in from other EU departments, and will be led by a Finnish lieutenant-general, Esa Pulkkinen, who also heads the military experts bureau. The HQ is to start work in April and to take charge of three existing EU training missions - in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Mali, and in Somalia - in the next few months. A senior EU official said on Monday that the HQ would take care of the missions' administrative and financial needs and would brief EU diplomats on what they were doing. The official said that, under current arrangements, military commanders in the field in Mali or Somalia, for instance, had to go back and forth to Brussels to do the work. "Now the field commander can concentrate on field issues", the official said. The official said the HQ would also help to coordinate the missions' logistical, medical, legal, and communications' needs. The official added that the HQ might, following a review in 2018, take charge of military missions that have a combat element, such as Sophia, the EU naval operation designed to fight human smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea. "It's for member states to define how much more they want to do," the official said. Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign relations chief, said at a foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday that the HQ was "not a European army - I know there is this label going around - but it's a more effective way of handling our military work". She voiced "pride" in the "unanimous" decision, noting that the EU had in the past shown "divisiveness" on military cooperation. France, Germany, and Italy have led the push for deeper EU military integration as a reaction to the UK's decision to leave the bloc and due to increasing instability in Europe's eastern and southern neighbourhood. Italy, in a "vision" paper last September, called for the creation of a "powerful and usable European Force that can also be employed in support to Nato or UN operations". Other states, such as Finland, had called for more "pragmatic" cooperation, while the UK had said it opposed anything that would compete with Nato. Speaking on Monday, Didier Reynders, the Belgian foreign minister, called the new HQ "a first step", adding that when it comes to "a European army, maybe later". Michael Ayrault, the French foreign minister, said: "It's necessary that we make progress [on defence] in a world of uncertainties". He added that defence cooperation was "important" for Franco-German relations as well as for European security and that it showed that Europe was "advancing ... despite Brexit and despite the US elections", referring to US president Donald Trump's anti-EU comments. German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen, said: "We took a very important step toward a European security and defence union, because we have become very concrete". She said that non-EU states, including post-Brexit UK, could "join in selectively with certain [military] projects or missions". "The Norwegians have great interest in this, the British have great interest in this," she said. The British defence minister, Michael Fallon, said the UK would "continue to cooperate with our European partners on defence and security". He noted that UK had a large component in Sophia and that it was sending troops to Estonia, Poland, and Romania as part of a Nato mission to deter Russian aggression. He added that "sensible" EU countries, such as the Nordic states and the Netherlands, shared Britain's concerns that an EU army could undermine Nato, however. He also downplayed the new "Military Planning and Conduct Capability" centre, saying: "There will be no new [military] headquarters, no new general officer. The current director of the EU military staff will be director of the military planning and conduct capability". , your membership gives you access to all of our stories. We highly appreciate your support and value your feedback. If you have any thoughts on this story, we would love to hear it. #### Site Section Foreign Affairs #### Related stories MEPs to back multi-million euro military research budget EU defence plan is 'no game-changer' No support for EU army in ministers' talks UK blocks blueprint for EU military HQ ##### MEPs to back multi-million euro military research budget 25. Oct 2016, 14:32 The European Parliament is expected to approve budget proposals that will see the EU funding military research on a large scale for the first time. #### Opinion ##### EU defence plan is 'no game-changer' 16. Dec 2016, 13:34 Package agreed by EU leaders brings nothing new but "hints at promising developments" in future, say former EU foreign policy and Nato chief Javier Solana and EU expert Steven Blockmans. ##### No support for EU army in ministers' talks 28. Sep 2016, 09:22 There will be no joint EU force and no EU military HQ for a long time to come, defence ministers' talks in Bratislava on Tuesday indicated. ##### UK blocks blueprint for EU military HQ 16. May 2017, 09:24 Johnson, the UK foreign minister, cited disagreements over "language" in run-up to Brexit and national elections. ##### EU ends silence on Hong Kong protests 19. 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Military Planning and Conduct Capability
History.:2018-2020: Mandate extension.