Towards a Partnership for the 21st Century The Enhanced and more Operational Partnership Report by the Political Military Steering Committee on Partnership for Peace Overview At the NATO Summit in Madrid, the Alliance inaugurated the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and introduced a number of significant enhancements to the Partnership for Peace, as recommended by the Senior Level Group on PfP Enhancement (NACC(PfP)(C)D(97)6). The implementation of these recommendations, which included the development of the political consultation, operational and decision-making aspects of the Partnership, has now been brought to fruition. The development of PfP remains a dynamic process and, with the prospect of a greater role for the Partnership in the future, the NAC has been tasked to develop a coherent package of measures to reinforce PfP's operational capabilities for the Washington Summit. Building on the success of the Partnership since Madrid, at the Washington Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government are invited to endorse new measures to further develop an enhanced and more operational Partnership to meet the challenges of the next century. The Washington Summit will endorse the Political-Military Framework for NATO-led PfP Operations, the expanded and adapted Planning and Review Process, and the more robust practical cooperation, which have resulted from the enhancement process. The Washington Summit will also introduce, as a new element of the enhanced and more operational Partnership, an Operational Capabilities Concept for NATO-led PfP operations, which aims to reinforce the operational capabilities of PfP. Moreover, the Summit will place increased emphasis on training and education. The Broader Summit Context At Washington, NATO Heads of State and Government will approve a number of measures to define the role of the Alliance in the 21st Century. The updated Strategic Concept will reflect, inter alia, the increased importance of crisis management as well as Partnership and Cooperation. The Alliance will also agree a Membership Action Plan to assist Partners aspiring to membership. Participation in the enhanced and more operational Partnership is an essential component of this plan. A Defence Capabilities Initiative will support the ability of the Alliance to undertake the full range of its missions. While this initiative will address among other things the challenges of future Alliance multinational operations, it will also have implications for interoperability between Alliance and Partner forces. The enhanced and more operational Partnership will support these initiatives by strengthening Alliance-Partner cooperation and enhancing the ability of Partners to contribute to NATO-led PfP operations. The Partnership since Madrid The development of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the enhanced PfP since Madrid have produced a more capable Partnership that is able to make an important and growing contribution to confidence building and to security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. This Partnership is marked by the expanded political dimension of the EAPC and the enhanced cooperation under PfP. The EAPC, through the implementation of the EAPC Basic Document, has proven to be a useful forum for political consultations in areas ranging from developments in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the crisis in Kosovo to broad topics such as peacekeeping and regional security cooperation. The EAPC has also provided a framework for the development of new areas of cooperation such as humanitarian demining and control over transfer of small arms, and for the coordination of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance through the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC). The Partnership for Peace is the principal mechanism for forging practical security links between the Alliance and its Partners. Through detailed programmes that reflect individual Partners' capacities and interests, Allies and Partners work towards transparency in national defence planning and budgeting; democratic control of defence forces; preparedness for civil disasters and other emergencies; and the development of the ability to work together, including in NATO-led PfP operations. PfP, moreover, has demonstrated its flexible and operational character in tailored assistance programmes, such as with Albania, and in its role as an element of the Alliance's overall approach for dealing with the crisis in Kosovo. This has included consultations with Partners in the region. PfP has played a significant role in preparing aspiring nations for possible membership and has been specifically useful in supporting the accession of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. The Partnership will continue to evolve, while preserving its basic principles and elements. Its enhanced political, decision-making, and practical elements are well suited to serve as a foundation for the future. The Enhanced and more Operational Partnership At the Washington Summit, Heads of State and Government will mark the bringing to fruition of the enhancement process since Madrid. The Political-Military Framework will be endorsed, and the expanded and adapted Planning and Review Process will be brought yet another step forward. The Summit will furthermore launch the Operational Capabilities Concept for NATO-led PfP Operations (OCC) and place increased emphasis on training and education within PfP. The enhanced and more operational Partnership will continue to address the full range of objectives laid out in the 1994 PfP Framework Document. It will also introduce new quality and character to the Partnership, in part to reflect the increased scope and more operational nature of PfP resulting from the enhancement process. In addition, the enhanced and more operational Partnership will take account of the lessons learned and practical experience gained in IFOR and SFOR. Future NATO-led PfP operations, which introduce new requirements and challenges, are likely to be multinational at lower levels, involving Partners in both command and force structures. They are also likely to be made up of smaller national elements, possibly at battalion or lower levels, be conducted outside NATO territory, and be longer in duration than NATO has planned for in the past. Such operations will place a higher premium on interoperability and present greater challenges to the maintenance of military effectiveness. The enhanced and more operational Partnership will help prepare the Partners to work with the Alliance in these operations, in particular through the OCC. It will focus on military effectiveness and interoperability during peacetime, improving the Alliance's capability to field an effective and sustainable multinational force with Partners when needed in crisis. PfP Enhancements Resulting from Madrid The Political-Military Framework for NATO-led PfP Operations (PMF) which was initiated at Madrid sets out principles, modalities and other guidance for Partner involvement in political consultations and decision-making, in operational planning and in command arrangements. It will enable Partners to participate in the planning and execution of NATO-led PfP operations as closely as practically feasible, and ensure that Partners joining future NATO-led PfP operations are afforded appropriate opportunities to contribute to the provision of political guidance for and oversight of such operations carried out under the ultimate decision-making authority of the NAC. The PMF, the OCC and the CJTF Concept taken together will provide the political-military basis for involving Partner forces and other capabilities in future NATO-led PfP operations. The PMF, which was agreed separately through [PO(99)28], and which will be endorsed at the Washington Summit, is at Appendix A. The Expanded and Adapted Planning and Review Process (PARP) will continue to be an important tool for enhancing interoperability of forces and capabilities declared available for PfP activities. The forces and capabilities, identified through PARP, will be available in principle for NATO-led PfP operations. PARP Ministerial Guidance will help shape these forces and capabilities through the framework it will establish for future Partnership Goals, and will, inter alia, give strategic direction to the future development of the capabilities provided by Partners for PfP. Through the newly established Partnership Goals the Alliance and Partners will address additional forces and capabilities which are considered valuable for the successful achievement of NATO-led PfP operations. A summary of the way ahead in implementing the expanded and adapted PARP is at Appendix B. Enhanced Defence-related and Military Cooperation. The SLG report tasked the NATO Senior Committees and the military authorities to support the enhancement of PfP by, inter alia, providing for greater Partner involvement in the PfP work of the committees; by expanding the scope of PfP exercises to reflect the full range of the Alliance's new missions; and by including Partner officers in PfP related work at NATO military headquarters. The overall scope of PfP cooperation has expanded significantly and Partners are increasingly more involved in committee and practical work, which contributes to the development of the PfP programme. A summary of defence-related and military cooperation with recommendations and guidance for further work in these areas are at Appendix C. New Elements at Washington The Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) aims to reinforce PfP's operational capabilities by establishing additional peacetime means and mechanisms for improving the interoperability of Partner forces and, thereby, the ability of the Alliance and Partner forces to operate together in future NATO-led PfP operations. This would give increased flexibility, predictability about potential contributions, and capability in putting together tailored force-packages to mount and sustain future NATO-led PfP operations. It will take account of the ongoing work on multinationality and multinational formations in the framework of PfP. The OCC will further elaborate the idea of a pooling of forces and capabilities potentially available for such operations. The development of enhanced peacetime working relationships between Partner and Alliance headquarters and staffs, and between Allied and Partner formations would facilitate the integration of these forces into a NATO-led force. These relationships would provide more structured arrangements than currently exist within the PfP framework. Another central element of the Concept should be assessment and feedback mechanisms on the operational capabilities of declared forces. Finally, the OCC noting the proven utility of the SOFAs will examine, to the extent possible, enabling mechanisms, such as host nation support, that might facilitate the conduct of NATO-led operations with Partners. An outline Operational Capabilities Concept is at Appendix D. A PfP Training and Education Enhancement Programme (TEEP) will be developed to optimise and improve training and education in the Partnership. The Programme will aim to increase the ability of training and education efforts to meet the current and future demands of an enhanced and more operational Partnership focussing specifically on interoperability, and to promote greater cooperation and dialogue among the wider defence and security communities in NATO and Partner nations. It will make best use of the human capital invested in the Partnership, promote synergy and efficiency among the PfP training and education activities, and better match these with the Partnership's evolving needs. The crucial importance of training and education for achieving interoperability in key areas of concepts, doctrine, procedures and languages is well known. This importance will grow as the enhanced and more operational Partnership further develops. The TEEP will examine both NATO and national activities, and address the activities "in the spirit of PfP". It will develop recommendations on improving and optimising available tools and on specific mechanisms for improved feedback and assessment. It will place particular emphasis on collaboration, and distributed training, including through the PfP Training Centres, the Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes and the PfP Simulation Network. An outline of the TEEP is at Appendix E. Way Ahead At the Washington Summit, Heads of State and Government will be invited to endorse the report on the enhanced and more operational Partnership. The PMSC will immediately start further work on developing the OCC, and on training and education in PfP, based on any further guidance provided by the Summit. An interim report on the development of the OCC and on training and education will be available by mid-September 1999. The full OCC will be ready for agreement by the Autumn 1999 Ministerial meetings -- as part of an overall report on the implementation of the enhanced and more operational Partnership -- with implementation in 2000 and following years. Resource implications of the enhanced and more operational Partnership must be taken into account by Allies and Partners alike, including all elements of the OCC and training and education as they develop over time. Cost effectiveness and affordability will be key considerations in the further development of the enhanced and more operational Partnership. In line with current PfP activities, implementation will largely rely on national defence budgets and manpower allocations. In view of the many other calls on the common-funded resources and the concerns expressed by the NMAs, the common-funded resource requirements will, however, also need to be kept under review. The Senior Resource Board, in consultation with the NMAs, and the Civil Budget Committee should, therefore, be invited to provide, taking into account their experience on PfP expenditures to date (1), an initial assessment of the potential resource requirements and of their affordability, by the time of the Autumn 1999 Ministerial meetings. Recommendations The Council is invited to: note this report, including its appendices, and agree the recommendations therein and specifically: agree the outline Operational Capabilities Concept in Appendix D; agree the outline programme on enhancing training and education in PfP in Appendix E; agree to forward this report and its appendices to Alliance and Partner Heads of State and Government at the NATO and EAPC Summits respectively; Following the Summit, the Council would: task the PMSC, in consultation with Partners, and taking into account further NMA advice, to complete the full Operational Capabilities Concept by the autumn 1999 Ministerial meetings, and to provide an interim report to the NAC by mid-September, 1999; task the PMSC, in consultation with Partners, taking into account further NMA advice, to provide recommendations for the further development of training and education in PfP by the time of the Autumn 1999 Ministerial meetings; task the PMSC, in consultation with Partners, to develop a comprehensive report on the overall implementation of the enhanced and more operational Partnership, including progress in follow-on work by the NMAs and relevant committees based on the Political-Military Framework for NATO-led PfP Operations, and progress in the Expanded and Adapted PARP, by the time of the Autumn 1999 Ministerial meetings; task the Senior Resource Board, in consultation with the NMAs, and the Civil Budget Committee to provide, taking into account their experience on PfP expenditures to date, an assessment of the potential resource requirements and of the affordability of the enhanced and more operational Partnership, by the time of the Autumn 1999 Ministerial meetings. Footnotes: Reviewed, as far as military common funding is concerned, in the SRB's 2000-2004 Medium Term Resource Plan currently under development.