Common Security and Defence Policy: Council and Commission must match words with deeds

At a joint committee meeting today, the European Parliament’s Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Budgets voted in favour of a Report on financing the Common Security and Defence Policy.

"We need to stimulate flexibility and keep coherence in financing the Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations. The EU cannot afford financial duplications, a lack of flexibility in financial rules or insufficient transparency in allocations to the missions and operations", said Eduard Kukan MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on the dossier.

The Report adopted in committee today calls on the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Member States to unleash the full potential of existing legal frameworks for a flexible use of the CSDP missions and operations and expresses concern that despite a combined yearly defence budget of some €190 billion, Member States are still unable to meet the 1999 Helsinki Headline Goals.

"The CSDP missions are part of our external policy and need to be able to work efficiently in order to make a difference in our security and defence", concluded Kukan, who is also a former Foreign Minister.