Day of Europe
Group 1
Subject: Maritime strategy and ESDP: Do common European objectives have any influence on national maritime strategies? We may start with a precise definition of the leading terms of the subject.
What are European objectives today? As it was decided in Cologne in June 1999, the European Council has placed at the heart of the ESDP actions crisis control missions, including humanitarian, peace-keeping and “peace-recovering” ones. In 2009, the European Union has 23 missions to its credit, acting in the Balkans, the Near East, Africa and South-East Asia. Today, it leads 3 military and 10 civilian operations simultaneously. As an example, the EU NAVFOR – Atalanta operation, which is EU’s first naval operation, was launched to respond to the steady increase in pirate activity off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. It is already contributing to the creation of safer conditions for the ships that sail on this important maritime route.
Secondly, what is a national maritime strategy? In fact, a strategy refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. It is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. Therefore, national maritime strategy corresponds to the terms and conditions that it is fought on a conflict implying the naval forces of the country in concern, led by the most important elements of the commanding part of these forces.
We may begin by a distinct meaning of the word “dimension”, which is linked to the size. The military budget of a country is directly linked to the European defense budget. In fact, the European commission suggested directives aiming to harmonize rules concerning market, exchanges, industrial cooperation between member states, especially by setting up a license system. This certainly has consequences on the financial management of the equipment owned by the naval force.
Also, we could mention