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Partnership Interoperability Initiative

Updated: 24 July 2025

The Partnership Interoperability Initiative (PII) was launched at the Wales Summit in 2014 to ensure that the deep connections built up between NATO and partner forces over years of operations will be maintained and deepened. In this way, partners can contribute to future crisis management activities, including NATO-led operations.

NATO Allies convened at the 2014 Wales Summit, where the Partnership Interoperability Initiative was launched.

  • NATO partners contribute to NATO-led operations and missions, as well as exercises, often significantly.
  • Partner forces need to be interoperable – able to operate together with NATO forces according to NATO standards, rules, procedures and using similar equipment.
  • At the 2014 Wales Summit, NATO launched the Partnership Interoperability Initiative (PII) to maintain and deepen the interoperability that has been developed with partners during NATO-led operations and missions over the last decades.
 

A focus on interoperability

Partners can contribute to NATO-led operations and missions – whether through supporting peace by training security forces in the Western Balkans, or monitoring maritime activity in the Mediterranean Sea – as well as NATO exercises. To be able to contribute effectively, partners need to be interoperable with NATO.

Interoperability is the ability to operate together using harmonised standards, doctrines, procedures and equipment. It is essential to the work of an alliance of multiple countries with national defence forces, and is equally important for working together with partners that wish to contribute in supporting NATO in achieving its tactical, operational and strategic objectives. Much of the day-to-day cooperation in NATO – including with partners – is focused on achieving this interoperability.

In 2014, Allied Leaders responded to the need to maintain and enhance interoperability built up with partners during years of operations (including in Afghanistan and the Western Balkans), recognising the importance of maintaining interoperability with partners for future crisis management activities. NATO launched the Partnership Interoperability Initiative (PII) in order to:

  • re-emphasise the importance of developing interoperability with and for all partners, and of ensuring that all existing partnership interoperability programmes are used to their full potential;
  • enhance support for those partners that wish to maintain and enhance their interoperability, including through deeper cooperation and dialogue;
  • offer enhanced opportunities for cooperation to those partners that provide sustained and significant force, capability or other contributions to the Alliance;
  • underline that interoperability also needs to be a priority for NATO’s relations with other international organisations with a role in international crisis management.

NATO’s partnership tools for deeper bilateral cooperation with individual partners in specific areas, such as interoperability, also include the Individually Tailored Partnership Programmes, the Planning and Review Process, and the Operational Capabilities Concept.

 

Enhanced Opportunities Partners

The PII recognised that deeper interoperability underpins and complements closer relations between NATO and partners. As partner countries’ contributions to NATO missions and operations as well as force pools became more ambitious and complex, they would benefit from a more tailor-made relationship to help sustain such contributions, based on specific “enhanced opportunities” for cooperation. Shortly after the 2014 Wales Summit, five partners were granted these “enhanced opportunities”: Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden. Ukraine was recognised as a sixth EOP in June 2020. Finland and Sweden became full NATO members in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

 

Interoperability Platform

Interoperability for current and future military cooperation to tackle security challenges is a key focus of day-to-day work at NATO.

This is why the PII launched a standing format for NATO-partner cooperation on interoperability and related issues: the Interoperability Platform (IP). The format cuts across traditional, geographical frameworks for cooperation, and brings together all partners that have contributed to NATO operations or have taken concrete steps to deepen their interoperability with NATO. This format allows Allies and partners to discuss issues that affect interoperability for future crisis management, such as command and control systems, education and training, exercises and logistics.

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