Interview of General Henri BENTEGEAT Chairman of the European Union Military Committee published in Impetus (EU Military Staff magazine) November 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Diplomat and Commander As you approach the end of your term in office, would you describe it as a successful tenure? Since its foundation about 10 years ago, the European Security and Defence Policy has progressed steadily. The Military Committee, with the invaluable support of the Military Staff, has been directly involved in this progress, given its multifaceted role in supervising capability development, agreeing common concepts and procedures, (reviewing operational document) guiding the Strategic Military Planning Process, advising the Political and Security Committee (PSC) and monitoring the ongoing operations. In particular, I would like to mention that during the last three years we have updated almost all the concepts as a result of our internal lessons learned process and cooperated with the European Defence Agency in preparing an innovative Capability Development Plan for the more economical use of our shrinking financial resources. That said, the most visible step forward of ESDP has been the two most recent military operations - EUFOR Tchad/RCA and EUNAVFOR Atalanta - and the civilian missions - EULEX Kosovo and EUMM Georgia, that have been launched since 2007, in conjunction with other ...