§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on(a) the defence and security implications of the Laeken summit and (b) on the operationally of ESDP within the agreement of NATO for automatic access to NATO capabilities. [24950]
§ Mr. HoonThe Laeken European Council concluded that the EU is now able to conduct some crisis-management operations and that it will be in a position to take on progressively more demanding operations as the assets and capabilities at its disposal continue to develop. This is entirely consistent with the UK's emphasis on the need to improve European military capabilities.
This represents useful progress towards the aim set out in the Helsinki Headline Goal, but recognises that capabilities are currently limited. We welcome the commitment reaffirmed by member states at Laeken to continue their efforts to meet the Headline Goad.
There has been considerable progress towards an agreement on arrangements for EU access to NATO assets and capabilities, but this is not yet fully concluded. 832W Once these agreements are in place, the scale and complexity of the operations that the EU could lead will be considerably increased.