Deutschland und Frankreich wollen EU-Sicherheitspolitik vorantreiben (neu: Anhang)

Die Außen- und Verteidigungsminister Deutschlands und Frankreichs – Guido Westerwelle und Laurent Fabius im Außenressort, Thomas de Maizière und Jean-Yves Le Drian in der Verteidigung – wollen die gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der Europäischen Union vorantreiben. In einem gemeinsamen Schreiben an die EU-Außenbeauftragte Catherine Ashton kündigten die vier Ressortchefs gemeinsame Ideen für die kommenden Wochen an. Damit sollen auch Initiativen für den europäischen Rat im Dezember vorbereitet werden, auf dem die Staats- und Regierungschefs über die gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Außenpolitik beraten wollen.

Das Schreiben ist zwar ohne die darin erwähnte Anlage ein wenig theoretisch, aber hier zur Dokumentation, die Vorschläge habe ich als Nachtrag angehängt:

Dear High Representative,
In today’s changing world, with new centres of power and growing asymmetrical security threats, such as cyber security or terrorism, the European Union is called upon to assume increased responsibility for international peace and security in order to guarantee the safety of its citizens and the promotion of its strategic interests and values.

Recent developments demonstrated the necessity of a sustained and comprehensive EU engagement in regions of particular concern such as the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa or Afghanistan. We also commend your personal involvement in the successful finalisation of an agreement on Kosovo where the EU could eventually take on increased security responsibilities.

Against the backdrop of financial restrictions and a more challenging security environment in the years to come we must carefully examine how taxpayers’ money can best be used to meet our security needs. We must look at innovative ways to use our limited resources to maximum benefit, while further strengthening the European Union and its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as a fundamental pillar of the European project.

The European Council in December 2013 represents a major opportunity to achieve this. France and Germany are committed to making the European Council a success with tangible results. In this spirit, we look forward to the informal meetings of Defence and Foreign Ministers in early September, and we should take full advantage of all relevant meetings this fall, especially the joint session of the Foreign and Defence Ministers in November. Your own reports (on CSDP and on the functioning of the EEAS) and the European Commission communication on Defence Industries and Markets will constitute the basis for these discussions.

In addition France and Germany would like to present common ideas that will be further elaborated in the coming weeks, to contribute to the discussion on the future direction of the EU’s security and defence policy. Please find attached a document which provides our views concerning each cluster of the mandate adopted by the European Council in December 2012. We consider all three clusters (effectiveness, visibility and impact of CSDP, capabilities aspects, market and industries) to be equally important.

France and Germany are confident that bold Council decisions in December will help further develop CSDP as an essential element of the EU’s comprehensive approach to security challenges and launch a process guided by ambitious, yet realistic goals for the way forward.

We provide copies of this letter to our colleagues.

Nachtrag: Der im Brieftext erwähnte Anhang mit den Vorschlägen:

25-07-13-Annex FR-DE-ALL

(Foto: Verteidigungsminister Thomas de Maizière, r.,  mit dem französischen Verteidigungsminister Jean-Yves Le Drian zu Beginn des Treffen des Nordatlantik-Rates im Oktober 2010 –  Bundeswehr/Andrea Bienert via Flickr unter CC-BY-ND-Lizenz)