Observatory on European defence, September 2003

1 September 2003 
ESDP Mission – Artemis Operation end
The withdrawal of the EU Artemis military operation in Congo (DRC) begun on 1 September and was completed 6 day after. The mission started on 12 June under a UN mandate.
The United Nations MONUC operation took over from the EU mission, as planned from the beginning.
The outcome of the short but timely EU operation has been generally considered positive; some shortcomings and areas of improvement were nonetheless considered, in particular in transport and communications capabilities.

20 September 2003 
Meeting France, Germany and United Kingdom – European Defence, Iraq>
A trilateral informal meeting between the political leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom was held in Berlin. The Italian Presidency of the EU Council, as well as other European institutions, were not invited.
While the meeting aimed mainly at coordinating the respective national policy on Iraq (the three countries are currently all members of the UN Security Council), other aspects of the European defence policy were discussed.
Two different proposal for the establishment of European commands for EU autonomous military operations were discussed: the first one, sustained by France and Germany, seems in favour of the build up of a new structure, while the English proposal aim at constituting a European cell within the NATO SHAPE structure.
The problem of a Command for autonomous EU operations has been discussed in many different informal meting, since the end of August.
No decisions were taken on both the Iraq policy and the EU command.

24 September 2003 
EU-UN--Cooperation in Crisis Management
At the margin of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York, the representatives of the European Union and of the UN issued a common document calling for a closer cooperation in international crisis management.
A consultation mechanism to improve cooperation in planning, training, communications and procedures was established.
The document was subsequently adopted by the General Affairs Council on 29 September.

29 September 2003 
General Affairs Council and External Relations – Operation Proxima, Iraq
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs met to discuss the evolution of the European external policy, in particular towards the Balkans and Iraq.
A Common Action on the deployment of a police mission in Macedonia FYROM from 15 December (when the military Concordia operation is expected to be over) was taken.
This operation, named Proxima, will last one year and will involve about 200 policemen in the support and training of the local police. The estimated cost of 7 Million Euro will be charged on the Communitarian budget.
A position of compromise on the possible new UN Resolution on Iraq was reached; the Resolution is expected to open to other countries the participation in the stabilisation and reconstruction process and calls for a vital role for the UN, as well as for the establishment of a deadline for the transfer of powers from the present occupying authority to the local constituencies.