Mr. Michael Howard:

By way of background I should say that Denmark hosted the Presidency in the first half of 2012 and has an opt out of the military aspects of CSDP, so that naturally would have influenced its disposition towards the management of it. It is important to know that.

Some years ago we produced a Food for Thought paper promoting the idea of a much more integrated EU approach to supporting the UN in peacekeeping. At the risk of using some slightly unparliamentary language, we kept pushing it and pushing it to get people to pay attention. We have canvassed among EU member states an awareness of the fact that the EU has something it can contribute and an awareness of our understanding of the challenges the UN faces in trying to mount peacekeeping operations. We have had a thought and reflection process as to what the European Union and member states can bring to support the UN. As I am sure members are aware, the UN has so much peacekeeping business on hands it is looking to outsource the provision of forces where it can to regional organisations, be it the European Union, NATO or the African Union. There is a very serious issue, not a willingness issue but a capacity issue, in Africa among the countries that might contribute troops to peace support operations. The technical sophistication of EU assets in addition to the financial resources of member states, even in a recession, are so deep that we can obviously bring something to the situation.

In the course of the Irish Presidency, we did two things that are unique one of which was to hold a seminar. We control to a degree the agenda by hosting seminars, as one brings people together and exposes people who would not normally meet each other to an exchange of views in the hope that one will create a momentum for change and a better understanding. Our seminar in February brought together the African Union, the UN, NATO and the European Union. These people do not normally meet. It was a very good seminar. In particular, the representative of the African Union was able to give a very forthright and direct account of the deficiencies and the problems they face.

By way of background, I could mention that the European Union mounted an operation in Chad, which we had the opportunity to visit as part of our troops. Chad is two and a half times the size of France and has 300 km of paved road.

For any force to be mobile in that environment, it requires the depth of technology and air support the European Union can bring. There has been reluctance on the part of European Union countries to put troops into missions. One of the facts which is very stark and with which people who attended the seminar were confronted by the UN was that European states provide 40% of the cash but they only provide 5% of the troops. The hope is that simply putting facts such as that in front of people and keeping on doing so will encourage people to factor it into planning for 2013 and 2014. Some member states will have troops available with the wind-down in Afghanistan that they could make available for peacekeeping. They have been alerted to the need and the requirement has been presented to them. That is something on which we will continue to follow through.