23 March 2009 - The European Security and Defence Assembly met the WEU Permanent Council/EU Political and Security Committee. Members of the Assembly were briefed today by Juraj FOGADA on behalf of the Czech Republic representing the EU Presidency and by Ambassador Clemens VON GOETZE representing the German WEU Presidency.
 
Luc VAN DEN BRANDE, President of the Committee of the Regions and Member of the Assembly, welcomed his parliamentary colleagues and the EU PSC Permanent Representatives, underlining the importance of "parliamentary diplomacy".
 
The President of the Assembly, Robert WALTER, MP pointed out that "we need to achieve more very soon if Europe wishes to remain an important actor in security matters". He welcomed the success of Operation EUFOR Tchad RCA but regretted that the mission had to be ended at a time when there was little hope for sustained stability in the region. Another major operation, EUFOR Althea, is still being conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Sadly we have to admit that 14 years after the Dayton peace accords, sustained EU involvement has not yet resulted in the stability and prosperity which we had in mind for this war-torn country". President WALTER also mentioned “the challenges we are facing in Afghanistan and perhaps even more in Pakistan”.
 
Mr FOGADA gave members of the Assembly a broad overview of the European Security and Defence Policy as it stands at present. He focused on the EU Czech Presidency priorities, in particular the energy security issue, transatlantic relations, improvement of EU civil-military capabilities and the Balkans.
 
Marie CROSS, Irish Political and Security Committee Representative, briefed Members of the Assembly on the future of  Lisbon Treaty. Ireland is currently planning a re-run of the referendum in the early autumn, either by the end of September or the beginning of October. ESDP issues, as well as social issues and the rule of "one Commissionner" will weigh in the debate.
 
During a lively discussion, questions were raised about EU enlargement (Nigel EVANS, United Kingdom), Afghanistan (Jaako LAAKSO, Finland and John GREENWAY, United Kingdom), transatlantic relations (Jordi XUCLA, Spain), the Middle East (Josette DURRIEU, France), EU/NATO relations (Gerd HÖFER, Germany), the western Balkans (Lord ANDERSON of SWANSEA, United Kingdom), EUFOR Tchad RCA (Yves POZZO DI BORGO, France), Operation ATALANTA off the Somali coast (Tarmo KOUTS, Estonia), European armament cooperation (Tuija NURMI, Finland) and Georgia (José VERA JARDIM).
 
Doug HENDERSON (United Kingdom), Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Assembly, chaired a meeting with General Henri BENTEGEAT, Chairman of the EU Military Committee. According to General BENTEGEAT, EUFOR Tchad RCA, which officially ended on 15 March, met all its assigned objectives and challenges (mainly sufficient defence equipment, the right level of forces and very good EU/UN cooperation). In Bosnia and Herzegovina, political tensions remain high. The future of Operation ALTHEA is still under study. Operation ATALANTA is already a success with a 60% reduction in piracy attacks. It acted as a very efficient "precursor and catalyst" for all the other naval operations being carried out in the Gulf of Aden.
 
On ATALANTA, Nigel EVANS (United Kingdom) enquired about judicial agreements in order to prosecute and jail pirates. An agreement has been signed with Kenya in this respect. Tuija NURMI (Finland) asked General BENTEGEAT about the impact on ESDP of France's intention to fully rejoin NATO. Concerning the EU/NATO "Berlin plus" agreement President WALTER asked for clarification about its current relevance and the prospects for renegotiation. Mr LAAKSO (Finland) was worried that EU battle groups (BG 1500) had never been used and wondered whether the scope of the BG 1500 missions was not wide enough. Lord ANDERSON (United Kingdom) insisted on the tricky problem of piracy custody and asked for more details on the future of ATALANTA. Bill ETHERINGTON (United Kingdom) and Tarmo KOUTS (Estonia) stressed that in the long term putting the pirates out of business implied the return of law and order in Somalia. Paul FLYNN (United Kingdom) noted that the humanitarian situation in Darfur was still very worrying, as were ongoing tensions between Sudan and Chad.