Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 612: To ask the Minister for Defence the full extent of possible locations to which EU battlegroups or RAPID response forces are expected to be deployed; if all such deployments require UN approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6777/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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In the Headline Goal 2010, the EU set itself the objective inter alia, of being able "to respond with rapid and decisive action applying a fully coherent approach to the whole spectrum of crisis management operations covered by the Treaty on the European Union". A key element of the Headline Goal is the capability to deploy forces at high readiness, broadly based on the Battlegroups concept. A Battlegroup is designed to respond rapidly either as a standalone force, as an initial stabilisation force for larger follow-on operations, or as a reinforcing force. It comprises approximately 1,500 personnel with a readiness to deploy within 5 to 10 days after the decision to launch an operation is taken. It is deployable for up to 120 days at a distance of up to 6,000 kilometres from Brussels.

The purpose of the EU Battlegroups is to undertake operations (commonly referred to as the Petersberg Tasks which are set out in the Amsterdam Treaty) such as rescue tasks, tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking, in addition to peacekeeping and humanitarian tasks. Battlegroups could be deployed on operations at the higher end of the Petersburg spectrum — i.e. robust peacemaking and high intensity combat operations.

In November 2006, the Government formally approved the arrangements for Ireland's participation in the Nordic Battlegroup (NBG). The other members of the Nordic Battlegroup are Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia. The Nordic Battlegroup will be on standby until 30 June 2008. Due to the very nature of an EU Battlegroup it is very hard to give the full extent of possible locations to which EU Battlegroups or RAPID response forces could expect to be deployed.

The participation in a Battlegroup operation remains a national sovereign decision, which is made on a case-by-case basis. In the event that Ireland was to participate in a Nordic Battlegroup operation, we would be the only participant with a legal requirement for a UN Mandate. However, many Member States acknowledge that it would be politically desirable, if not a political imperative, to have a UN Mandate for any Battlegroup deployment.