The Headline Goal is a term used to describe the EU Force Planning process. The UK does not assign units to the EU Headline Goal; the UK offer to the Headline Goal does not commit the UK to any action. Requests for forces to support EU operations are considered on a voluntary case-by-case basis. The UK declaration to the Headline Goal is used for planning purposes only, to determine the shortfalls against the Level of Ambition (LOA) in order to focus capability development. The UK’s full contribution to the Headline Goal 2010 is detailed in the UK’s 2006 Headline Goal Questionnaire, which we placed in the Library of the House on 22 June 2007.
NATO has a different LOA to the EU and operates a separate Force Planning process. The UK declaration to the NATO LOA is similarly used for planning purposes only and does not commit the UK to any action in NATO operations.