An Cosantóir

strategic review EU/NATO 23 | means that the costs of the elements contributed by any participating member state are borne by the contribu- tor, whereas some member states prefer operations to be funded in common. While there are always certain infra- structural costs that must be funded in common, our stance is that if everything is funded in common it could easily lead into other common arrangements, which would be contrary to our stated policy position. In addition, the main argument for common funding, that everyone will contribute their share, has not been borne out in experience in the NATO-led missions. We believe that the ‘costs lie where they fall’ approach is a more efficient use of resources as it allows each contributor to decide how much they want to commit and to know exactly where their money is going, whereas in common funding it’s very easy to spend someone else’s money. While we have limited resources compared to many other member states we have a good record of contribution and participation. We had a significant role in EUFOR Tchad/ RCA, and while we may not have had as much involvement with other missions we are still a party to all the discussions which shape them. Also, just because we haven’t contrib- uted resources to a particular mission to date that doesn’t mean that we may not contribute in the future. For example we may at some point send a vessel to take part in Opera- tion Atalanta, whereas currently we are only in a position to contribute two Naval Service officers to the OHQ in North- wood. We have to keep contributing when and where we can as that maintains our credibility. We are known on the PSC as a business-type nation: if we say we’ll do it, we’ll do it. I am also a member of the boards for the European De- fence Agency, the European Security and Defence College, and the European Satellite Centre, all of which agencies are funded by the EU’s member states based on a percentage of GDP. These boards decide on budgets, policy and projects, and give general strategic direction. The European Defence Agency, which is probably the one that most people have heard of, is very important in relation to making the most of our military budget. One of the agen- cy’s primary functions is to try to achieve commonality in terms of procurement within the EU. In practice this means that if one country is buying a quantity of, for example, APCs all the other member states know about it and any of them can ‘piggyback’ on the order, leading to economies of scale for the purchasers. In another example, if the French army was to purchase 10,000 flak jackets and if we added our requirement to this order we would save a lot of money. We have used this facility very effectively in the past to purchase items such as ammunition and the Sincgars radios. In times of decreased budgets every state is looking for ways of achieving a ‘better bang for your buck’. However, there is more involved than just the financial aspect. The Department of Defence has a duty of care to our military personnel which extends to providing them with the appropriate tools and training to allow them to work efficiently and effectively, in an interoperable fashion, in a multinational operational environment. If we can do this, we have gone quite a way to achieving one of our more impor- tant objectives. INTELLIGENT PLANNING Lt Col Kieran Dalton explains the role of the Intelligence Directorate of EUMS where he is currently stationed… The EUMS is structured like many other strategic headquarters, with a director general overseeing a number of directorates, in this case Logistics, CIS, Operations, and Intelligence. It is important for us that Irish personnel are represented throughout that chain. The mission of the Intelligence Directorate is to provide intelligence input to early- warning and situation assessment; to contribute to EUMS planning through the provision of intelligence and intelligence planning expertise; and to provide the intelligence input to crisis-response planning and assessment for operations and exercises. In addition, the EU, like the UN, has overseas missions and needs to ensure that it is aware of threats in the areas its personnel are deployed. This awareness is mainly achieved through intelligence gathering. Intelligence production in the directorate is broken down to different regions around the world and I produce intelligence reports from papers, briefings and flash reports that come in from the area to which I’m assigned. The directorate produces a six-monthly watch-list document, which, when it is approved by the Political and Security Committee (PSC), is used by all member states, the EUMS, and the director general to provide early warning on what is likely to happen over the next six months. This work reduces the possibility of strategic surprise for the EU. THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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