Fifth General Meeting of the CoE
On 10 May, CoE members and preferred partners (EEAS and NATO IS) and the CoE team met virtually for the fifth General Meeting of the CoE to review the Centre’s 2021 activities, and to discuss its current and future activities.
2021: highlights of the Centre’s activities
CoE Director Volker Jacoby presented an overview of the Centre’s 2021 activities. Some of the highlights of the Centre’s work last year included:
- Launching the Knowledge Hub on the CoE’s website in October 2021. A total of 112 resources have been added to the Hub since then, covering most of the 11 priorities the CoE is working on.
- Organising ten workshops and networking events, which reached 312 people. Moreover, CoE’s staff contributed to 33 external events as civilian crisis management experts, and in person meetings were held with CoE’s members, preferred partners and stakeholders in Belgium, Italy, Sweden, and Berlin.
- Completion of the pilot CSDP Women’s Mentoring Programme, which paired 25 mentees with 24 mentors from nine civilian CSDP missions. Over the course of eight months, the 49 participants came together in ten get-togethers.
- Producing a video on “How to apply for civilian CSDP Mission secondment” where interested candidates can find tips and tricks from current mission personnel on how to tailor their application and prepare for interviews.
- Publishing several documents, including a commentary on the EU’s strategic autonomy, a food for thought paper on Compact 2.0 with a view to the emerging Strategic Compass, as well as a paper on the internal-external security nexus.
“At the CoE, we are fully committed to working even harder to support our members in their commitment to implementing the current Compact, facilitating informal discussions to prepare for the agreement of a new Civilian CSDP Compact in 2023, and fully integrating civilian crisis management into the operationalisation of the Strategic Compass.“
2022: state of play and way ahead
Director Volker Jacoby outlined some highlights of the Centre’s work to date. Particular attention was given to the new CoE Map on Secondment to EU Civilian Crisis Management Missions. The map is a “one-stop-shop” for information about EU Member States’ secondment activities in the realm of civilian crisis management.
Another highlight of the CoE’s activities in 2022 to date has been the launch of the second CSDP Mentoring Programme for Women, this time around with 16 pairs of mentors and mentees from ten civilian CSDP missions. Read more about the pilot programme here.
Throughout the first months of 2022, the CoE has continued identifying and disseminating good practices among its members, encouraging the adaptation of these good practices to the specific contexts of individual members. Furthermore, the Centre has intensified its activities to further support its members in implementing their commitments under the Civilian CSDP Compact. Three facilitated matchmaking sessions, as well as concrete and individual support to members -- "tailored-made solutions" -- on various CoE priorities have already been initiated.