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A MAJOR NEW COMMITMENT BY MEMBER STATES IN DEFENCE AND SECURITY: PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION (PESCO)
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three years, although the EU eventually set this
at 21 months.
With regard to the European defensive alli-
ance, it is particularly important to note that the
United Kingdom, which has raised many doubts
about the initiative, now views it positively. This
is despite initial fears that the United Kingdom’s
departure would weaken the CSDP and the de-
fensive alliance.
Spain’s participation in the CSDP and
PESCO
Over the last 15 years, Spain has been one of
the EU’s biggest contributors to civil and military
crisis management, in terms of personnel and
the number of operations. It is currently partici-
pating in all six of the EU’s ongoing military op-
erations, performing a major role and, in some
instances, directing operations.
With the implementation of PESCO, Spain is
one of four countries playing a central role –
along with France, Germany and Italy – partici-
pating in 9 of the 17 projects approved by the
PESCO Council on 2 March 2018. And it is lead-
ing one of the most significant of these: the
command, control and leadership system for
CSDP missions and operations, which may be
transformed into the new HQ.
It should also be noted that several crisis
management missions are under Spanish lead-
ership, and two Spaniards hold senior positions
in the CSDP: Pedro Serrano de Haro is Deputy
High Representative with specific responsibility
for the CSDP; and Jorge Domecq is Executive
Director of the European Defence Agency.
Once again, it should be stressed that the
development of PESCO is of great significance
to Spain, a country whose threats and hazards
come primarily from the south. In the functional
distribution which has been established (at least
implicitly) between NATO and the EU, southern
Europe is the responsibility of the EU while sys-
temic threats from the east are, in the first in-
stance, the responsibility of NATO. And we should
also remember that Ceuta and Melilla are not
covered by Article 6 of the Washington Treaty, but
they are protected by Article 42.7 TEU.
In January 2018 Spain gained agreement to
establish the Galileo Programme’s Vigilance and
Security Centre at San Martín de la Vega, near
Madrid. Galileo is the European satellite naviga-
tion system, whose purpose is to monitor and
prevent any threats to the operation of one of
Europe’s most ambitious telecommunications
projects, and it will compete with the US system
from 2020, once its 30 satellites are all in orbit.
It is currently based at Swanwick in the United
Kingdom and at present is only used for civil
purposes, but there is no question that it could
also have a military function.
Spain also hopes that the HQ for Operation
Atalanta, the counter-piracy mission in the
Indian Ocean – currently based at Northwood
(United Kingdom) but due to be relocated after
Brexit – will be transferred to the Spanish naval
base at Rota, although the Italian government
has also proposed Naples as a possible location.
To what degree could PESCO constitute
the European NATO?
NATO’s key achievement has been to maintain
the peace and security and territorial integrity of
its members for seven decades, as a result of the
deterrent threat of a permanent military organ-
ization which is prepared to implement the de-
fensive alliance commitment established in
Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.