CoE Workshop: Frameworks for secondments of Experts outside Public Service (EoPS)

Seconding EoPS to civilian crisis management missions is a tool for EU Member States to provide civilian CSDP missions with specific expertise that cannot necessarily be found within public service. Those are for instance individuals tasked with tackling challenges such as cyber security and climate threats within the framework of the mission’s mandate. However, not all EU Member States possess a (legal) framework which opens the possibility to make use of this tool.  

The CoE organised a workshop on Frameworks for secondments of Experts outside Public Service (EoPS) on 27 September 2021 that provided a platform for EU Member States to exchange information and views on their respective national approaches to optimise setups for the secondment of personnel outside the public service to civilian CSDP missions. The aim of the workshop was to provide EU Member States with appropriate and suitable tools to complement their current approach of secondment, thus also living up to the commitment under the Civilian CSDP Compact to increase the percentage of seconded personnel up to 70%. 

61 participants from 23 EU Member States discussed their frameworks and legal conditions for secondment and exchanged good practices. BelgiumDenmarkGermany, and the Netherlands inspired with presentations of their setup for secondment. Following the presentations, the participants engaged in a lively discussion about methods to increase the number of their seconded EoPS in civilian CSDP missions. 

It became evident that multiple aspects should be considered when setting up a framework for the secondment of experts outside public service: the professional and personal growth of the seconded experts need to be ensured to efficiently fulfil the individual mission mandates as well as the commitments under the Civilian CSDP Compact. To do so, EU Member States would benefit from a 360°degree approach toward their experts. Aspects to consider within the legal framework are pre-deployment training, salary, pension, social guarantees, family arrangements, gender/diverse representation, to name just a few. 

“We need to strengthen the national setups for the deployment of experts to allow MS to effectively and substantially support implementation of the mission mandates. This way we will contribute to a meaningful and more skilful participation of seconded national experts in civilian CSDP missions, thus increasing the contribution to the fulfilment of the CSDP Compact.“
Captain Martina Perazzolo

The workshop was organised by Marie Wellmann, Special Assistant to the CoE Director, and Captain Martina Perazzolo, Seconded National Expert from Italy, in close collaboration with Sweden, represented by Caroline Schander (Deputy Director Department for European Security Policy, MFA Sweden). 

To find out more about the workshop, please contact Marie Wellmann, marie.wellmann@coe-civ.eu