European Parliament pushes for more ambition with EU crisis response force

Members of the European Parliament spelt out an ambitious target on Wednesday (19 April) for the EU’s future 5,000-strong crisis response force set to be operational next year, requesting a higher number of troops under a single EU command.

In their report, MEPs underlined the need for the EU’s Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC), a part of the bloc’s military strategy, to be adequately equipped and ready to use.

The EU already has its own battlegroups, a rotating on-call force composed of member states’ armed forces. However, due to a lack of political will, member states have never deployed them in crisis, for example, to assist with evacuating citizens from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.

The capacity should have “the goal of reaching a standing force”, the report says.

The 5,000-strong force is first and foremost to be used for rescue and evacuation operations and is expected to be operational in 2025, according to the EU’s Strategic Compass endorsed by the EU leaders last year.

Over the past twelve months, member states have outlined scenarios in which the capacity could be deployed. Its first exercise is scheduled in October in the Gulf of Cadiz, in southern Spain.

‘At least’ 5,000

The EU Rapid Deployment Capacity “should number at least 5,000 troops,” the European Parliament report stated. While member states in initial negotiations had refrained from setting this number as a minimum, creating instead a “capacity that will allow us to swiftly deploy a modular force of up to 5,000 troops”.

MEPs also point out that “an exact number for minimum troops can only be assessed after conceptual planners have analysed potential scenarios”.

They also add that the 5,000 troops should exclude the “strategic enablers”, such as air- and sealift personnel, intelligence assets, satellite communications, special operations forces, or medical evacuation and care units.

So that it can deploy rapidly on the ground, member states “must notify EU RDC Headquarters of what units and equipment, including air, sea and land transport, will be permanently at the disposal of the EU RDC”, the report said.

That way, “the country responsible can deploy them without delay”.

To avoid a burden-sharing issue between member states, the “countries that do not have sufficient personnel, materiel or logistics capacities should pre-establish agreements with other countries to be able to fulfil their commitments to the EU RDC when they take on the leadership of the EU RDC”, the report stated.

No sharing with NATO

EU lawmakers also made a point to ask that personnel attributed to the EU’s Rapid deployment capacity may not also be allocated to other missions or put under other mission control.

“All EU RDC force elements should be assigned exclusively to it”, EU lawmakers argue, with one exception, which is the “possibility of Member States calling them up for national duty in the event of an emergency”.

This move would ensure that in case of a significant event requiring mobilising international capacities, the troops cannot be called under both the EU’s and the US-led transatlantic military alliance’s flags at once, an issue that member states raised during the negotiations last year.

“Only ‘single-hatting’ will ensure the operationalisation of the EU RDC and the availability of its forces and capabilities in the event of a crisis”, the report stated, which would involve “aligning the readiness categories of the EU RDC and the NATO Force Model”.

The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has been called to “play a major role in synchronising actions with NATO so that EU ambitions are not influenced by NATO and vice versa”, EU lawmakers said.

[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Alice Taylor]

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