On 26/27 September, the CoE held a two-day workshop in Berlin in collaboration with the European External Action Service (EEAS). Participants from 16 EU Member States and the EEAS came together to discuss how the creation of an informal cluster system, that is thematic working groups of EU Member States, could support the latter to strengthen their national civilian capabilities and deliver on their commitments under the 2023 Civilian CSDP Compact.

The aim of the workshop was to present the concept behind the Clusters, developed by the CoE in cooperation with SecDefPol.1 (EEAS), to Member States and to gain input from them on how these Clusters could best serve their needs and national priorities.

The workshop began with opening remarks from the CoE’s director, Dr. Volker Jacoby, and Ms. Elzbieta Kustra-Pirveli, Policy Officer at SecDefPol.1. Following this, the CoE presented the proposed Clusters and how they would work in practice, with a specific focus on knowledge management and secretarial support that the Centre intends to provide.

Based on initial observations from Member States’ national implementation plans (NIPs), experts from the CoE then provided participants with an overview of the potential topics that could be addressed within the four proposed Clusters: National Governance, Human Resources Management, Training, and Strategic Communication. Participants were invited to discuss which topics would be of interest and to share how they saw the Clusters aligning with their own national priorities.

On National Governance, improving national coordination was identified as a priority for most Member States. The need to generate buy-in by elevating civilian CSDP in a coordinated manner at the political level was stated as being key to achieving this. Members also expressed interest in expanding the network of ministries and agencies involved in the national coordination of civilian crisis management, for example considering the areas of Justice, Culture, or Climate, Security and Environment. The need to review existing legislation and regulations was also raised, noting the overlap of this topic with Human Resources Management.

Participants acknowledged the key role that Human Resources Management plays in increasing the number of experts seconded to civilian CSDP missions. Discussions regarding this Cluster highlighted a variety of Member State priorities such as increasing women’s participation, strengthening expertise in the areas of hybrid and cyber threats, and improving national career path development. Going forward, the Human Resources Management Cluster will need to reflect on ways of working to best address this diverse range of topics.

Conversations on Training centred around understanding whether Member States felt that there was a need for such a Cluster, and if so, how it could be designed to avoid repeating the work of other pre-existing fora and thus risking redundancy. It was highlighted that political ownership and coordination between various platforms regarding training requires strengthening, and that, with this in mind, there could be potential for a Training Cluster to be established at the policy-preparation level. Ultimately it was agreed that further consultation with Member States is required to determine the future of this Cluster.

With regards to Strategic Communication there was consensus amongst Members that a common narrative around civilian CSDP should be developed to increase visibility and better communicate its value. The need to consider how to tailor communications to broaden the candidate pool for secondment – in particular women – was also discussed. It was suggested that a Strategic Communication Cluster could help to provide Member States with concrete tools to support these efforts, for example communication guidelines, resources, or mapping exercises of existing actors and audiences. 

The workshop concluded with Member State representatives being invited to express interest in either co-chairing or participating in the proposed Clusters. As a next step, the CoE will work with interested Member States to launch the Clusters in the very near future.

“I am glad to note that by engaging in the workshop and the development of the Clusters, the EU Member States demonstrated a renewed commitment to strengthening national capabilities and delivering on the 2023 Civilian CSDP Compact”, said Director Jacoby, adding that “the time for translating national implementation plans into action has come.”