Hutton Celebrates European Defence Policy

Secretary of State for Defence, John Hutton today marked the 10th Anniversary of the Saint-Malo declaration on European Union Defence by welcoming the French Defence Minister, Herve Morin, to the UK based Operational Headquarters for the forthcoming EU-led counter Piracy mission.>> The UK, with France, was at the forefront in launching what would become European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) at the Saint-Malo summit 10 years ago. Since then the EU has launched more than 20 civilian and military missions in three continents. The UK will lead its first ESDP mission later this month when it takes operational command of the EU counter piracy mission - Op Atlanta.>> Secretary of State for Defence John Hutton said:>> "The EU mission to tackle piracy off the coast of Somalia to be launched later this month is the latest example of the progress in European Defence in the last 10 years and evidence of UK's commitment to ESDP.>> "The EU has a powerful set of resources - civilian expertise, military forces, economic might and the most extensive diplomatic network in the world, as well as being the biggest donor of development funding in the world. This makes it uniquely placed to respond to instability.>> "The UK has welcomed the progress made on European Defence by France during her Presidency of the EU, particularly on helping to develop military capabilities and highlighting the importance of burden sharing.">>> BACKGROUND NOTES:> 1. The declaration at the Franco-British Summit at Saint-Malo (3-4 December 1998) was the catalyst for the EU's engagement in military and civilian crisis management operations, which led to ESDP.