Interview of General Håkan SYRÉN Chairman of the European Union Military Committee Released to Timo LANGE EUROMIL NEWS - Issue 12 April 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. What are the main implications of the Lisbon Treaty for military ESDP missions in general and more specific under a possible “Permanent Structured Cooperation”? What is your view on the possibility that an ESDP mission will be delegated to a group of Member States under “Permanent Structured Cooperation”? The military implications of the Lisbon Treaty are at this stage largely undefined. An immediate task is to translate the Treaty formulations into concrete political actions and decisions. Building on those we will in due time explore the military implications. That said, I would rather like to answer your question in a more indirect way by considering the need, I would say imperative, for enhancing military cooperation among Member States. Since 2003, when the idea of Permanent Structured Cooperation was first launched, ESDP/CSDP has moved forwards very substantially. CSDP has step by step been brought from the drawing-table to the real world, from theory to practice. EU has launched six military operations and more than a dozen civilian missions, EDA has been formed and the EU BG concept has been implemented. Reinforcing present CSDP is quite another thing than reinforcing the ESDP of 2003! At the ...