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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.
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