Written answers

Tuesday, 28 March 2006

Department of Defence

EU Ministerial Meetings

11:00 pm

Photo of Michael D HigginsMichael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will report on the meeting of European Defence Ministers in Innsbruck on 7 March 2006; the issues that were discussed at this meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11772/06]

Photo of Dan BoyleDan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Defence the discussions in the meeting of European Defence Ministers in Austria in March 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11802/06]

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 101 together.

An Informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers was held in Innsbruck, Austria, on 6 March 2006. At the meeting, Ministers discussed civil-military co-ordination, CMCO, which was an initiative begun under the UK Presidency to improve the management of operations involving EU civil and military elements in a manner which would support greater coherence across the range of EU instruments and actors by bringing together the different tools available to the EU in a co-ordinated manner. The Austrian Presidency prepared a paper on CMCO management of operations which set a range of questions to facilitate an exchange of views on the issue.

Also discussed at the meeting were operations in Africa, in particular the proposed EU support mission to the UN MONUC operation and operations in the western Balkans. As the meeting was informal, and not a decision-making forum, no formal conclusions were drawn. A meeting of the European Defence Agency steering board followed the informal meeting.

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