SUBCOMMITTEE ON SECURITY AND DEFENCE - Secretariat - 4 September 2006

Report on the delegation to Berlin and Potsdam, 10 - 11 July 2006

Purpose of the delegation

The Subcommittee on Security and Defence sent a delegation to Berlin and Potsdam () on 10-11 July 2006, in order to: a) Discuss various security- and defence-related topics with the corresponding German federal institutions as follows:

• the European Security Research Programme and its funding at the Federal Ministry for Education and Research; • the European Defence Equipment Market at the Federal Ministry for Economy and Technology; • aspects of and interlinking between internal and external security, esp. as regards terrorism, organised crime and border security, as well as civil protection, with the Federal Minister of the Interior; • role of the German army in the European and international context and the future of the ESDP at the Federal Ministry of Defence. b) Scrutinize the practical aspects of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), by means of visiting the EU Operation Headquarters (OHQ) in Potsdam at times of ongoing preparations for the deployment of the EU military operation "EUFOR RD Congo" in support of MONUC (a UN-led operation) during the upcoming elections period.

Composition of the delegation

The delegation comprised:

• Karl VON WOGAU, the Chairman; • Geoffrey VAN ORDEN, Member; • Ana Maria GOMES, the Vice-Chairwoman; • Annemie NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK, Substitute; and two additional non-official delegation members: • Tobias PFLÜGER, Member, and • Ģirts Valdis KRISTOVSKIS, the Vice-Chairman.

1 Detailed information

On 10 July, the delegation met with:

1) Dr. Wolf-Dieter Lukas, Ministerial Director (Section Key Technologies and Innovative Research) and the Head of Unit thereof, Mr. Wilfried Kraus, at the Federal Ministry for Education and Research who stated the following: • the new German government agreed in November 2005, as a matter of priority, on taking new initiatives on security research in Germany aimed at complementing the action at EU level, • first action was the German position regarding the European security research programme (ESRP) communicated to the European Commission in January 2006: ESRP was welcome by the government, • as regards the future ESRP, priorities for the German government, are: a better protection of European citizens against terrorism and strengthening of European industry competitiveness (the German market size is 10 billion Euros per year), • the German national programme will be in line with ESRP, new threats to civil security arise from the new quality of threats by terrorism, organised crime, sabotage and the consequences of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and extraordinary accidents, • the horizontal themes for the research are detection of NBC weapons, communications and organisation while applying the end-user approach, with focus on research implemented in scenarios of civil security, with technological solutions while also addressing root causes, • the proposed 100 million Euro for the ESRP should be doubled (German position), • research must be conducted in support of liberties and fundamental rights, not at theirs expense; more freedom through technology is the basis for public support of the programme as such, adverse effects should be identified at an early stage, • start of the German national research programme in 2007-10: 100 million Euro, from 2011 onwards 40 million Euro yearly, with funding ratio max. 50 % for enterprises, • MEPs discussed application and funding of the Galileo project, Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security (GMES), satellite reconnaissance and telecommunications in support of ESDP, • we can think of research co-operation with the US, however the EU (or its Member States bilaterally) have to have something to offer first of all,

2) Dr. Joachim Wuermeling, Secretary of State, Federal Ministry for Economy and Technology; • with whom the delegation discussed the future German EU Presidency (in 2007), the economic reforms in Germany in the context of the EU and possibility to establish a European common defence equipment market, • defence industry should be given more freedom within the EU, Art. 296 of the TEC (which gives the Member States the possibility to derogate from the free internal market rules for defence equipment procurement) must be defined as narrowly as possible in order to avoid its abuse; the introduction of EDA´s

2 voluntary Code of Conduct is welcome by German government but it should not be overestimated, • Germany would be in favour of a legally binding document in this area, because an interpretative document on Art. 296 and a directive are not sufficient to create mutual confidence: the Commission's proposals must be of a substance and be coherent. EU should focus on its core competencies and debureaucratize at the same time: on this occasion Ms. Gomes pointed out that the defence market is of strategic importance and EU must not be naive, Mr Wuermeling replied that indeed this market is special but nevertheless we have to create an environment which enables companies to work, • Germany will emphasize these views, esp. during their EU Presidency in the first half 2007, • Dr. Wuermelling was heavily criticising the idea of economic patriotism in the EU and opposed the notion of so-called "national champions" which is an outdated idea, the ongoing debate in European politics about preference either for national or European or world champions is irrelevant, • the so-called energy nationalism is contrary to the 50 years of achievement of the European Coal and Steel Community, EU should be happy that it has been preparing itself for globalisation since the inception of the single internal market, • discussion was led on delivery of strategic airlift (Airbus) and the common rejective position of both, the German government and the EP, on the issue of possible lift of arms exports embargo to China, • Mr. Wuermelling emphasized need for an integrated EU Strategy for a globalised world (complementary to the European Security Strategy)

3) Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Minister of the Interior; • Members and the Minister discussed the blurred line between internal and external security, esp. as regards terrorism, organised crime and border security, and the use of civilian and military assets, • there are different roles and limitations in the Member States to police and on the other hand, military, due to various historical experience and legal culture, the Minister is in favour of more flexible use of both, either on German or foreign soil, the German army () may not be used for security tasks in Germany (except defence), only for civil protection and disaster consequence management assistance, • the proper scrutiny of mixed ESDP missions must take into account different rules of engagement for police and military components, • the Treaty of Prüm1 should be joined by as many EU Member States as possible, bringing it into the EU framework; every strengthened co-operation within the EU must be flexible and open to the others,

1 Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Austria on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation particularly in combating terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration (Schengen III Treaty), Prüm (Germany), 27 May 2005, Council Secretariat, Brussels, 7 July 2005, 10900/05. Finland and Italy have also formally declared their willingness to join the Treaty soon. The Treaty includes: automated access by law enforcement agencies to DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registration; public order and protests; armed “sky marshals” on flights; joint deportation flights.

3 • there is a common understanding that terrorism must be fought by and within the rule of law, at the level of the EU the most important is an efficient exchange of information complemented by proper private data protection, and surveillance of terrorists activities in the early phase and their movements across borders, • the Minister draw a lesson from Iraq: unilateralism doesn't work, however, EU shouldn't be a counter-weight to the US, on the contrary, it must be its partner, • High Level Working Group for the monitoring of Implementation of the Schengen Information System has been set up in the Council due to lack of information provided by the Commission.

4) Dr. Franz Josef Jung, Minister of Defence, and Dr. Ulrich Schlie, the Director of the Policy Planning Staff at the Federal Ministry of Defence; • new German Defence Strategy ("White Book") which is being drafted was a subject of discussion, time was ripe in Germany for a restart of a security debate which was halted since 1994 until now (negotiations on the Kosovo future status), • security can't be delivered without effective reconstruction effort in (which is true probably anywhere) • Mr. von Wogau pointed out that shortfalls in defence equipment and interoperability in the EU should be addressed (telecommunications compatibility, satellite-based intelligence gathering), • division of labour between NATO and EU have been addressed: NATO is and will be of central importance for German security, EU cannot replace it there; as regards the missions abroad, Dr. Schlie and the present senior military staff maintained that the division should be done on an ad-hoc basis, where NATO would take rather bigger military missions and EU the smaller missions of civilian-military character; stronger NATO doesn't imply weaker EU (and vice versa), they should reinforce each other by complementarity, the Berlin Plus arrangements should be put to work and improved, • the geographical limits to EU missions depend on Member States´ agreement (German position); to redefine those in a revised European Security Strategy (ESS) seems unlikely for the moment as it would be difficult to reach the common and ambitious wording of the ESS of 2003 again, • the MEPs discussed the possibility of ESDP involvement in Darfur in 2007, and the obstacles that have to be overcome in order to deploy the UN peacekeeping forces, • according to Dr. Schlie, there will be a European army sooner or later (academically speaking), the only question is when.

5) On 11 July, the delegation visited the Operations Headquarters in Potsdam. Senior military officers briefed about the ongoing preparations for the deployment of the EU military mission "EUFOR RD Congo" in support of the UN forces MONUC during the upcoming elections period. The delegation was informed by Lieutenant General Karlheinz Viereck, COMEUFOR; Major General Jean-Luc Hotier and other senior staff as follows: • EU-led operations can make use at the moment of 3 Operation Headquarters (OHQ): French, British and German; the EU Operations Centre will be ready in the beginning of 2007, Italian and Greek in January 2007,

4 • EUFOR Congo mission is the first EU military mission set up by EU from the very start, establishing huge amount of lessons learnt for the future efficiency of ESDP, • EU forces will not intervene where MONUC is deployed in strength, • the ESDP planning and decision-making is slightly different in concept and in reality, since there is no ideal scheme to be followed • national restrictions (rules of engagements) differ which does not prevent the effective use of forces, • the deterrence factor of EUFOR RD Congo is based on preventive intelligence and past experience of Congolese with European peacekeeping, esp. the achievement of the Artemis mission.

At the end, the delegation visited the (building of former Reichstag).

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