EAPC in Defence Ministers Session 3 Dec. 1997

Speech by HE. Dr. Werner Fasslabend Austrian Minister of Defence In the past, Austria has supported an enhancement and adaptation of the Planning and Review Process for several times. The status of the now tabled ideas seems to be very promising. For me, the decisive momentum is, that the PARP-nations are duly and comprehensively involved together with NATO-partners in political guidance and control. A further rapprochement with the force planning process of the alliance should be achieved. For me, the establishment of a common ministerial guidance for the PARP-cycle is a need with high priority. We have to tell our planners clearly what we want to achieve together in the field of PfP-operations. The subsequent elaboration of Partnership goals, which are based upon a clear military evaluation of the needs by the NMAs, seems to make sense and being necessary. Based upon economical and military capacity of partners, Partnership goals will have to be commonly developed with adequate mutual transparency during a foreseeable timeframe. It shows the spirit of solidarity if the partners feel themselves politically bound to those goals and shall do everything in their capacity to guarantee the achievement of these goals and thereby a higher degree of operational interoperability. The development of such certainly challenging goals require a long preparation time. especially the realtions at military technical level between the relevant NMAs and those of partners are not established and developed. The Alliance has therein an experience of decades in these areas. She should therefore organise small meetings in order to adequately prepare representatives of PARP-nations in the field of ADP as well as in mechanisms. Looking at the timetable it seems to me that quick reaction is urgently needed, to guarantee the starting of the new PARP-cycle by 1999. Austria has always underlined an according interest in the qualitative improvement of the co-operation capability. We are therefore also ready to offer our participation in the development of Partnership goals at the earliest possible stage.