NATO reform
At the Lisbon Summit, in November 2010, NATO leaders endorsed a new Strategic Concept, which states that the Alliance will “engage in a process of continual reform, to streamline structures, improve working methods and maximise efficiency.”
This process had already started in June 2010 with the internal organisation of NATO Headquarters, i.e. the NATO Committee review. In parallel, NATO also engaged in the reform of its Command Structure – the NATO Command Structure Review - and that of its Agencies – the NATO Agencies Review.
- The Committee Review has been fully implemented;
- the NATO Command Structure Review was launched at the Lisbon Summit and the approval of the model and geographical footprint was approved by defence ministers in June 2011. Its implementation was conducted over a period of one year;
- at the Lisbon Summit, Allies agreed to streamline the 14 NATO agencies into three major programmatic themes: procurement, support, and communications and information. The reform has been implemented through several phases, to incrementally achieve increased effectiveness, efficiency and cost savings, while preserving capability and service delivery.
Additionally, NATO’s International Staff is being reviewed as part of this broader package of reform being undertaken within the Organization. Similarly to the other initiatives, it aims to streamline and adapt structures to today’s environment.