§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action will be taken to improve the level of enabling forces and weapons which are required to meet the Petersberg Tasks prior to 2008; and if he will make a statement. [26707]
§ Mr. HoonUnder the Helsinki Headline Goal, EU member states are to be able, by 2003, to deploy and sustain for at least a year up to 60,000 personnel, with air and naval support as necessary, capable of conducting the full spectrum of Petersberg Tasks.
At a Capabilities Commitment Conference in November 2000 and the further Capabilities Improvement Conference in November 2001, member states contributed a wide range of forces and capabilities to this target. Member states have also agreed to put in place a European Capabilities Action Plan to address remaining shortfalls based on voluntary efforts and building on existing national and multinational initiatives. This work is now being pursued under the Spanish Presidency.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the upper range of possible Petersberg Tasks; what consultation there has been with other EU countries on Petersberg Tasks since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [26856]
§ Mr. HoonThe Petersberg Tasks, as defined at the Western European Council of Ministers in Bonn in June 1992 and subsequently adopted by the EU in the treaty of Amsterdam are: humanitarian and rescue tasks; peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. It is impractical to define precisely the upper range of such operations, as this will change depending on the circumstances at the time. The work carried out since Helsinki to elaborate the requirements of the Headline Goal has included as a working assumption a potential use of EU-led forces to separate warring factions.