EU to refocus defence planning and plug shortfalls

BRUSSELS, Dec 13 (Reuters) European Union states are set to refocus their defence planning for tomorrow and plug military shortcomings in their armies, which are in demand for peacekeeping around the world, an EU defence official said.

The bloc, which has missed targets such as a goal to equip a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force by 2003, still suffers from a shortage of air transport needed to take troops and equipment to far-flung trouble spots.

States will implicitly acknowledge that some goals are unlikely to be achieved by a deadline of 2010, and will charge the European Defence Agency with redefining priorities in proposals expected to be approved tomorrow.

''It may be that some of those shortfalls can be fixed in the next couple of years but most of them may not be,'' EDA chief executive Nick Witney said in an interview today.

''Now the aim is to produce a more comprehensive and detailed set of reflections on how we should re-focus our forward planning.'' Witney's agency was set up two years ago with a goal of improving coordination in EU national defence spending.

Governments are due to charge the EDA with producing a ''roadmap'' of top priorities by mid-2007 and could also agree to give each other limited insight into defence planning practices, which vary widely from one country to another.

France, for example, plans over a period of 30 years while some others plan barely a year in advance.

The EU is running security missions in the Balkans, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia's Aceh. European troops feature strongly in NATO peacekeeping in Afghanistan and the UN mission in Lebanon.

Shortfalls already identified by the EU include a lack of airlift, attack helicopter battalions, air-to-air refuelling facilities and reconnaissance capabilities.

Witney said the new roadmap would include some of those shortfalls but also mention the need for the bloc to begin equipping itself with more advanced command, control and intelligence technology.

Reuters BDP GC1910