HC Deb 28 November 2001 vol 375 c912W
Dr. Julian Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the use of the EU rapid reaction force for(a) crisis management and (b) war-fighting. [18258]

Mr. Hoon

There is no standing EU rapid reaction force. An EU-led crisis management operation would take place only where NATO as a whole is not engaged. The decision to proceed on a particular operation would be taken on a case by case basis, but the types of operation the EU might undertake could include humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. These are commonly known as the Petersberg Tasks. The European Security and Defence Policy does not cover war-fighting operations.