New political and military structures have been set up for the ESDP, participated in by all the member states. The main bodies in the security and defense field are the Political and Security Committee, which is responsible for following the international state of affairs and for submitting proposals to the Council of Ministers on issues of Foreign Policy, as well as issues relating to political supervision and strategic command of operations. The European Union Military Committee (responsible for submitting opinions to the PSC) and the European Union Military Staff (a General Directorate within the Council Secretariat General) also play an important role in the military management of crises.
Since 1.1.07, the EU Operations Centre (OpCen) was put into full operation. This Centre strengthens the European Union’s capabilities as far as operation management and planning are concerned.
The role of the following agencies is also important for the development of the ESDP: the European Defense Agency[1], the Institute for Security Studies[2] and the European Union Satellite Centre[3].
[1] http://ue.eu.int
[2] www.iss-eu.org/
[3] www.eusc.europa.eu
Last modified: March 2009