HC Deb 03 July 2000 vol 353 c53W
25. Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent meetings he has had with his opposite numbers in EU member states to discuss European security and defence identity issues; and if he will make a statement. [127281]

Mr. Hoon

I last discussed European security and defence issues with my EU counterparts at the General Affairs Council on 13 June.

27. Dr. Julian Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the armed forces of the United Kingdom's continental European allies in the context of the European security and defence identity. [127283]

Mr. Hoon

The Kosovo crisis has shown that European nations need to be better able to deploy rapidly and sustain the right mix of armed forces for NATO or EU-led operations.

To this end, EU member states made a commitment to improving their military capabilities by signing up to a collective target—known as the Headline Goal—at the Helsinki Summit in December 1999. This goal is complementary to NATO's Defence Capabilities Initiative.

In line with the measures endorsed at the recent Feira European Council, we expect EU member states to nominate their voluntary contributions to this goal at the Capabilities Commitment Conference later this year.