EU PUTS NEW CIV-MIL PLANNING STRUCTURE IN PLACE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001723 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2019 TAGS: MOPS MARR PREL EUN MASS SUBJECT: EU PUTS NEW CIV-MIL PLANNING STRUCTURE IN PLACE REF: A. USEU BRUSSELS 973 ¶B. USEU BRUSSELS 1561 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Christopher Davis for reaso ns 1.4(b/d). ¶1. (C) Summary: The creation of the long-awaited EU Crisis Management Planning Directorate (CMPD) was announced at the EU's November meeting of Foreign and Defense Ministers. The CMPD's new Director, Claude-France Arnould, told us on December 16 that the Directorate, which is to unite EU civilian and military crisis management structures, will not be fully staffed until late 2010. The EU has already assembled civilian and military planners in a single Integrated Planning unit consisting of three 7-person interdisciplinary strategic planning teams: Europe, Africa, and the Rest of the World. The creation of the CMPD is another step towards building up the EU's institutional capacity to apply the "comprehensive approach" to crisis management, but does not constitute a major advance in the EU's capacity to act. The decision to focus the Directorate's planning teams on Europe, Africa, and the Rest of the World indicates that EU Council Secretariat staff believe the EU is likely to conduct crisis management operations in its own back yard for the foreseeable future. End Summary. ¶2. (C) In November, EU Foreign and Defense Ministers publicly announced the creation of a Crisis Management Planning Directorate (CMPD),a new civ-mil strategic planning structure that has been in the works since late 2008 (REF A). On December 16, newly-named CMPD Director Claude-France Arnould summarized the new organization as consisting of two sub-units to cover strategic planning and institutional development: a Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) Development Unit and an Integrated Planning Unit. ¶3. (C) The Integrated Planning Unit will include three interdisciplinary civ-mil strategic planning teams consisting of seven planners each. The three teams will cover Africa, Europe, and the Rest of the World. Arnould said the EU decided to divide the teams regionally rather than functionally so that civilian police and judicial planners would work alongside military planners in integrated units. The 21 planners necessary for the Integrated Planning unit to reach its full capacity will largely be drawn from the EU's existing military and crisis management staffs, with some new hires. 
¶4. (C) Arnould acknowledged that she is still in a bureaucratic battle with EU Military Staff Director-General, Lt. Gen. David Leakey, over personnel. She said there are already 12-15 capable planners in the unit, which she characterized as "good capacity." The EU has an approved list of planners it hopes to hire, said Arnould, but they probably would not be brought on board before the EU completes the restructuring associated with the Lisbon Treaty. She anticipated having a full planning staff in late ¶2010. ¶5. (C) The new unit will focus on strategic planning and is not meant to serve as an operational headquarters. The EU's Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) will continue to serve as operational headquarters for all EU civilian missions. Military operational headquarters contributed by EU member states will continue to command military operations. (Note: The UK's Northwood headquarters presently oversees the EU's counter-piracy operations.) ¶6. (C) Arnould also specified that the CMPD will develop Deployable Augmentee Cadres (DACs); planning teams that will initiate strategic pol-mil planning work in Brussels before integrating into other EU bodies for operational planning. She illustrated how this might work, by suggesting that in the early stages of planning a DAC could be tasked with helping the EU Military Staff to prepare the Military Strategic Options for an EU operation. Once the operation was ready to be launched, a DAC could be integrated into the CPCC or into a military operational headquarters. BRUSSELS 00001723 002 OF 002 ¶7. (C) The CMPD's second unit will be called Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) Development. Its focus will be institutional. This unit will be comprised of personnel already working on EU Defense and Civilian Crisis Management issues. The unit will focus on: capabilities development; partnerships (with NATO, the UN, the OSCE, the AU, and non-EU countries); training; lessons learned; exercises; and doctrine. ¶8. (C) Arnould said that given the messy EU bureaucratic restructuring associated with the Lisbon Treaty, the CMPD must be established in phases. She said the EU's existing strategic planning directorates had already been merged to create the CMPD's Integrated Planning unit. Arnould claimed that EU officials responsible for doctrine, lessons learned, exercises, and training have also already been merged into the CMPD. She conceded that personnel covering partnerships are not yet fully merged and capabilities issues are still being handled separately. ¶9. (C) Comment: The creation of the CMPD constitutes another step forward for the EU as a security actor. Integrating civilian and military planners should help the EU to better plan for the application of Comprehensive Approach to evolving and complex crises (REF B). The long wait time before the CMPD reaches full capacity is a clear demonstration of how bureaucratic restructuring associated with Lisbon will not result in any rapid evolution in the EU's capacity for decisive action. The decision to stand up three planning teams focused on Europe, Africa, and the Rest of the World is a clear indication of where the EU plans to focus its crisis management resources over the next few years. End Comment. KENNARD .