“Fostering the EU Policy and cooperation on CSDP Training”
19 – 20 November 2019, Brussels
What a remarkable, flourishing and enriching event! The CSDP Annual Training and Education Conference 2019 (ATEC 2019) took place under the heading “Fostering the EU Policy and cooperation on CSDP Training“. The ATEC 2019 gathered around 130 participants from the CSDP training community in Europe, enabling training experts, training providers and policy makers to expand their network at the EU level and with other partners in Member States. The event combined the ESDC Network Conference, the Annual Meeting on Training of CSDP Missions & Operations Personnel and the EU Annual Military Training and Education Seminar in a single activity. The CSDP Annual Training and Education Conference is a unique opportunity to analyse training requirements and the lessons identified from CSDP missions and operations, discuss recent CSDP developments and emerging policies with a view to reflecting these in training opportunities. During these two days, EU officials and members of the ESDC network took the floor to recap the main changes and activities occurred during the past year, to reflect on the main policy developments and lessons learnt and to define the main working areas for the next year. The panels proposed specific actions aiming at updating the training requirements and curricula in line with the EU Policy on Training. The ATEC also identified lessons and specific actions to ensure closer synergies between CSDP policy developments and the needs in missions. It also highlighted the next steps to further develop a more joined-up action between the EUCTG and the EUMTG and stressed the need to improve human resources management and capabilities for current civilian missions. The conference programme was mainly divided into three sections:- Developments around the EU Global Strategy on Security and Defence;
- The implementation of the EU Policy on training for CSDP: State of play of the EU Civilian Training Group and the EU Military Training Group; and,
- Key challenges, insights and recommendations from CSDP training providers in the area of Crisis Management, Capacity Building and Conflict Prevention.