Paris, 26 January 2010 – The President of the European Security and Defence Assembly, Robert WALTER, MP, spoke at Chatham House’s Annual Defence and Security Conference 2010 which took place in London on 25 and 26 January. President WALTER gave the keynote address on the morning of Tuesday 26 January in Session Five on “Policy Options: Future directions for security and defence in Europe”, at this major conference entitled “European Defence and Security: New Challenges, New Choices”.

President WALTER began by pointing out, in the light of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, the achievements to date and challenges that lie ahead in the field of CFSP and CSDP.

The President focused on several of the important innovations that the Lisbon Treaty has brought about, including Permanent Structured Cooperation and the double-hatting of the High Representative as Vice President of the Commission in charge of External Relations.

President WALTER emphasised that the Lisbon Treaty did not lay down a common defence policy. The EU has no territorial or strategic defence policy in the classic sense with a binding mutual assistance clause. In fact, as far as common defence is concerned, Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union refers specifically to NATO, one reason why more energy should go into improving relations between the EU and NATO and between the EU and the United States.

President WALTER noted that EU-NATO relations are undeniably still problematic which is, as he put it, “pretty incredible” in view of the fact that 21 EU member states are full NATO members and a further four are Partners for Peace. The Berlin Plus Arrangement between NATO and the EU does not satisfactorily serve as the basis for close cooperation between the two bodies. However, the EU could take initiatives which might lead to a solution by granting Turkey a status comparable to that which it enjoyed as an associate member of WEU and which, to Turkey’s great regret and resentment, it was not granted in the ESDP structures.

The EU’s relations with the United States are, according to President Walter, another important issue which needs closer attention if Europe wishes to be considered as a serious partner and ally of a country playing a determining role in addressing the world’s most serious problems. Bilateral EU-US relations have become very significant for a number of major security issues: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the Middle East Peace process and also in relation to Russia. They are usually conducted on the basis of ad hoc talks and lack a proper structure. This is not to suggest that there is no room for individual member states to conduct bilateral dialogues, but when it comes to cooperation in strategic matters, including security and defence, it would be far more useful and efficient and more in line with the acknowledged ambition of the Lisbon Treaty’s CFSP, to create an appropriate structure for a regular all-encompassing strategic EU-US dialogue – something not possible in NATO, given the different structure and interests of that organisation. The President referred to the urgent need for such a structure, a precondition for which is that the EU must be prepared to speak with one voice.

Crucial also for the CFSP, he maintained, are the EU’s relations with Russia. The existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the two needs modernising. The considerable interdependence between both partners justifies the development of a meaningful strategic partnership. There is a need for them to develop a mature and predictable relationship based on mutual trust and, in the short term, deepen practical security cooperation. The unresolved conflicts in the EU’s and Russia’s common neighbourhood must be addressed as a priority. Afghanistan definitely provides an opportunity for cooperation because Russia too has an interest in a stable and pacified Afghanistan, and this may pave the way for progress at a later stage in other areas.

President WALTER then went on to highlight several recent achievements made under the Swedish Presidency, namely, the agreement on the flexibility and deployability of battlegroups, the establishment of the Europe-wide maritime surveillance system and the developments made towards an integrated civil-military approach. The EU has also made considerable progress in the deployment of troops for CSDP missions and been successful in Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to name but a few. Nevertheless, shortcomings still need to be addressed.

He noted for instance that the EU has had and still faces problems in framing a genuine common policy on Afghanistan; as a result of political differences between member states its approach remains piecemeal. The EUPOL Afghanistan mission encounters many of the problems that have plagued other civilian missions: political indecisiveness in Brussels, logistics problems in what is a naturally difficult theatre and slow planning and deployment due to the reluctance of member states to contribute the requisite staff. EUPOL Afghanistan has not been able to achieve the channelling or better coordination of the EU member states’ police reform efforts that would seem to be the logical consequence of an integrated European mission. Lastly, due to the problems in EU-NATO relations, there is no comprehensive EU-NATO agreement on the provision by ISAF of security for EUPOL staff and no possibility of exchanging classified and often vital information. As a consequence, EUPOL has had to conclude individual agreements with Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) lead nations, hire a private company to guarantee its security and adopt an extremely tight security policy. Moreover, Turkey and the US have not concluded technical bilateral agreements with EUPOL and this has slowed down its deployment and hampered its effectiveness.

In the President’s view, close cooperation with the Americans is not incompatible with deep involvement in CSDP and defence cooperation with our European allies. Procurement cooperation with the Americans remains important, if only because of the need to maintain the highest possible degree of interoperability with those with whom Europe may have to deploy in combat. The same is true of European allies themselves, increasingly called upon to cooperate in all kinds of different CSDP operations, often in situations where the US prefers not to be involved. Closer European defence cooperation can offer opportunities for cost cutting in times of scarce resources, particularly through the pooling of certain military capabilities.

The President closed his address by endorsing the EU’s commitment to becoming an autonomous actor, keen to promote world stability, and by pointing to the important role national parliaments play in informing citizens about the EU and winning public support.