EU: Rapid reaction force agreement
01 March 2000
EU defence ministers agreed the outlines for a future European rapid reaction force during an informal meeting in Sintra, Portugal, on 28 February. The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the formation of a 50,000-60,000 strong force by 2003. The force will consist of 15 brigades of which presumably two or three each will be German and British. The ministers were vague about financing of the project but there was a French proposal on the table that said that all the members should pay 0.7% of their gross national product for military investment.
National contributions to the force, funding and location of the force's headquarters still need to be determined. A "force-generation conference" will be held before the end of the year in France when Paris holds the EU's presidency. Earlier on 14 February the EU foreign ministers decided to create the interim organs for security policy that have already started their work at the beginning of March:
* an interim political and security committee of ambassadors that will meet on a weekly basis.
* an interim military committee of representatives of the chiefs of staff will meet twice a year.
* military experts that will form the core of a future European military staff and planning unit
have moved into offices at the EU council secretariat to exercise intervention scenarios.
Defense News 6.3.20.; Jane's Defence Weekly 8.3.20.; AMI March 2000