Cablegate: S/Crs Deepens Eu Civilian Crisis Response Contacts

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 002918

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/ERA AND S/CRS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MOPS FR EUN KCRS USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: S/CRS DEEPENS EU CIVILIAN CRISIS RESPONSE CONTACTS

1. (SBU) Summary: On 25 July, staff from the Office of the
Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) met
with various EU bodies dealing with civilian crisis
management. Director of Planning Barbara Stephenson
emphasized to the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis
Management (CIVCOM) that "conceptual convergence" with likely
partners such as the EU, NATO, and the UN is a top priority
for S/CRS planning efforts. Stephenson also discussed with
the director and staff of the civ-mil cell their role in
coordinating EU crisis response measures, including an EU
operations center. Stephenson then met with members of DG E
IX (the Council Secretariat,s civilian crisis management
unit) to hear about EUJUST LEX, the EU,s rule of law and
police mission in Iraq, and to share ideas on furthering
U.S.-EU cooperation efforts. They concluded that in-depth
discussion would be hampered by the lack of a U.S.-EU
security agreement permitting the sharing of classified
materials. End Summary.

2. (SBU) Director of Planning Barbara Stephenson and
Associate Director for Planning and International Relations
Matthew Cordova from S/CRS met July 25 with several EU
Council bodies to present information, share perspectives,
and exchange ideas on the issue of civilian crisis response
planning. They met first with member state representatives
of the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management
(CIVCOM) and gave a presentation of the S/CRS planning
framework for conflict transformation before participating in
a Q&A session.

3. (SBU) Asked about cooperation with NATO on crisis
response, Stephenson said that while the US conducts
operations that are military in nature through the Alliance,
there are areas where cooperation can be taken forward
regarding civilian crisis response. This would include
cooperation between the U.S. and the EU, between the EU and
NATO, and within NATO. She mentioned that one opportunity
for the EU could be to observe or participate in future
Multinational Interagency Group (MNIG) exercises. These
crisis response exercises, which give a lead role to
civilians, will include a significant rule of law component.
In response to questions concerning resources, Stephenson
said early consultation is key, both inside and outside USG,
to synthesize objectives when personnel and funding from
different sources are brought together to respond to crises.
She also emphasized that achieving "conceptual convergence"
with likely partners such as the EU, NATO, and the UN is the
top priority for S/CRS planning efforts and international
outreach in the next six months.

4. (SBU) Stephenson met subsequently with senior staff of the
newly operational civilian-military cell, which, according to
its terms of reference, assists in crisis response strategic
contingency planning for civilian, military, and integrated
operations. Eight of its twenty-nine officers also serve as
the core staff for an eventual EU operations center, which
can be augmented by an additional hundred or so officers if
it is activated to run an autonomous EU operation when no
national HQ can be identified. The staff said it is working
closely with DG E IX (the civilian crisis management unit
within the Council Secretariat) to ensure that the
objectives, documents, training, and other elements of the
military Headline Goal 2010 and the civilian Headline Goal
2008 are compatible and mutually reinforcing.

5. (SBU) The head of the civ-mil cell, Brigadier General
Horst-Heinrich Brauss explained that the Headline Goal 2010
strives to develop capabilities that match the ambitions of
the European Security Strategy and to enable the EU to carry
out the so-called Petersberg tasks (peacekeeping operations,
humanitarian and rescue missions, and other crisis management
tasks for combat forces) through the establishment of the
European Defense Agency, deployable battlegroups, and other
milestones. Headline Goal 2008 calls for "integrated
civilian crisis management packages" (consisting of experts
in police, rule of law, civil administration, civil
protection, monitoring, and other support tasks) that can
deploy by themselves or in close coordination with military
efforts. Its key aims include drawing up a Capabilities
Requirements List and illustrative training scenarios, for
which the cell has been providing input. Cooperation between
the civilian and military aspects of crisis management
planning is facilitated by the fact that both units work in
the same building and can therefore establish personal
connections.

6. (SBU) Brauss said that the civ-mil cell, with its
civilian planners working alongside military officers,
embodies the EU,s desire to institutionalize the integrated
approach of its European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP).
He noted, however, that coordination across the
Council-Commission divide has been difficult to accomplish
but is important given that the Commission controls the
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) budget that
finances civilian ESDP operations. The cell is also located
within, and shares personnel with, the EU Military Staff, and
this has been a sticking point for those wishing to see equal
emphasis on the civilian aspect of the cell.

7. (SBU) General Brauss was insistent on the need for the EU
to have the capability to plan and run integrated operations.
He characterized himself as a committed Atlanticist, but
defended the concept of an EU ops center. He said that it
would be technically possible for the EU to turn to NATO for
planning assets via Berlin Plus arrangements but the process
had proven difficult and cumbersome when implemented for the
EUFOR takeover in Bosnia. He also argued that the military
planning structures at SHAPE are not necessarily suited for
the agile and flexible planning required for short-fuse
integrated missions. Brauss was hopeful that the projected
permanent EU-NATO liaison cells would provide the mechanism
to ensure broader EU-NATO coordination in crisis management.
(Note: Planning for the reciprocal liaison cells is in the
final stages. On 29 July, NATO SYG Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
sent SG/HR Solana the Terms of Reference document and a
letter indicating NATO is prepared to agree to the EU team's
proposals (sent to NATO in December) and to "(implement) the
agreements in parallel once the details of the staffing
arrangements have been settled in both organizations." End
note.)

8. (SBU) Another problem Brauss discussed with S/CRS was the
formal channel through which the cell is supposed to receive
its orders to initiate strategic contingency planning. He
called it "ideal" if SG/HR Solana or the Political and
Security Committee (PSC) had the time to direct the cell,s
work by receiving input from member states and consulting the
early warning watch list compiled by the Council
Secretariat,s Joint Situation Centre (SITCEN), but more

SIPDIS
often than not the cell,s planning was dictated by
unforeseen crises or appeals. He cited the example of Aceh,
a civilian monitoring mission for which the cell has been
given primary planning responsibility, which originated from
a request "out of the blue" by UNSR Ahtisaari, not by member
states or SITCEN. Brauss said that the cell has already
drawn up a crisis management concept for the
ceasefire-monitoring mission despite the fact that the
details of the ceasefire have yet to be finalized.

9. (SBU) Stephenson then met with EU JUST LEX Head of
Mission Stephen White and DG E IX Deputy Director Veronica
Cody. White shared some of the principles underlying the
Iraq mission, which is the first EU mission to combine EU
civilian crisis response "instruments" (in this case, rule of
law and police). Based on his experience in Northern
Ireland, White designed the program to train police and
judges together to foster trust and cooperation, and he
focused on three objectives: 1) make security paramount for
everyone involved, from trainers to trainees; 2) involve
Iraqis throughout every stage of the mission; and 3) remain
flexible and responsive to changes in the environment.

10. (SBU) Cody and Stephenson shared ideas about how the EU
and the U.S. could further cooperation on civilian crisis
response. Cody identified personnel exchanges as being
helpful (including having Americans attend courses at the
newly established European Security and Defense College,
though it has yet to accept third party participants), and
offered to provide top EU speakers for the USNATO-USEU
pol-mil conference on October 12-14. She also said that DG E
IX has an interest in collaboration in gaming and experiments
to improve strategic design and advanced civilian-military
planning for transitional security and the rule of law. Cody
and Stephenson agreed that more digital video conferences
should take place between DG E IX and S/CRS, but they
concluded that in-depth discussions would be hampered by the
lack of a U.S.-EU security agreement permitting the sharing
of classified materials.

11. (SBU) Comment: These meetings provided useful firsthand
insights on how the EU views its aspirations and capabilities
for civilian crisis management. EU officials appear aware of
and open to some form of EU-U.S. and EU-NATO cooperation
given their limited experience and resources. That said,
they will want to move forward and keep developing their own
mechanisms for planning and implementation. We should work
closely with them to coordinate in ways that meet our
requirements and those of NATO in this area. Such
collaboration may also serve to as a bridge linking EU and
NATO operations in the future. End comment.

MCKINLEY
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