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EU Co-operation

Volume 454: debated on Wednesday 6 December 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the contribution of the UK into EU defence planning institutions. (107062)

The EU does not have defence planning institutions. This activity is undertaken by the Policy and Plans Directorate of the EU Military Staff which, until very recently, was led by a UK officer.

Our most recent major input into EU's defence planning activity has been the UK’s response to the Headline Goal Questionnaire submitted in late March 2006, which sets out the capabilities which the UK might potentially be able to make available to EU-led operations. Since then, lower level activity has taken place to assist the EU with the process of scrutiny and assessment of both UK and other member states’ inputs to the Headline Goal.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of military advisers to EU Special Representatives; and how many there are. (107065)

The EU Special Representative for Sudan has a Military Adviser and a Deputy Military Adviser. The EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina has two Political-Military Advisers. There are no other military advisers to EU Special Representatives.

The Military Advisers’ role in Sudan is to help to ensure the coherence of the military component of the EU supporting action in Addis Ababa and manage coordination with the African Union.

The Political-Military Advisers’ role in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is to support the EU Special Representative in ensuring the coherence, visibility and effectiveness of the overall EU action in BiH, particularly in the security area.