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A European Army of Thinking Soldiers – European Academic Officers’ Education: Challenges and Opportunities

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NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019

Part of the book series: NL ARMS ((NLARMS))

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Abstract

A European army, as recently claimed by French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel, is not to be expected in the near future due to a varied landscape of national interests of the states involved. The same can be concluded with regard to the integration of European training and education or even a European Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in the European security and defence domain. However, from the end of the Cold War, training and education in the wider Europe broadened in themes and was strengthened by additional institutional structures due to multilateral, organizational and inter-organizational initiatives. Especially with the entrance of the EU into the security and defence domain of the European security architecture. Nevertheless, these initiatives and further strengthening of these initiatives face challenges due to diversified national interests, but likewise offer opportunities. This chapter discusses these developments of training, education and research in the European security and defence domain and addresses the challenges and opportunities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kissinger 2014; Mazar 2018.

  2. 2.

    Heisbourg 2018, p. 214.

  3. 3.

    Macron 2018.

  4. 4.

    http://www.eda.europa.eu.

  5. 5.

    Merkel 2018.

  6. 6.

    The wider European area concerns cooperation within the EU and NATO area combined with cooperation with states within the OSCE area and sometimes even global cooperation due to the partnership and cooperation programs of both the EU and NATO.

  7. 7.

    Though the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is an organization that fits within the wider European security area, OSCE training and education is not addressed in this chapter.

  8. 8.

    The authors wrote this chapter mainly based on primary sources, consisting of treaties, agreements and open sources of the initiatives of the selected security organizations that provide education and training and the authors personal experience acting in the European training and education environment, due to a lack of academic research on the subject of multinational, organizational and inter-organizational cooperation in the wider European training and education area.

  9. 9.

    For a systematic, comparative analysis of national military education and training in Europe, see Libel 2016.

  10. 10.

    http://www.baltdefcol.org/.

  11. 11.

    http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/policies/higher-education/bologna-process-and-european-higher-education-area_en.

  12. 12.

    http://www.nordefco.org.

  13. 13.

    http://www.baltdefcol.org/.

  14. 14.

    http://www.emilyo.eu/.

  15. 15.

    The EDF was proposed in 2016 and established in 2017 for research, development and acquisition.

  16. 16.

    The legal basis of the ESDC is the Council Decision (CFSP) 2016/2382, amended by a Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/712.

  17. 17.

    https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/4369/European%20Security%20and%20Defence%20College%20(ESDC).

  18. 18.

    http://www.iss.europa.eu/.

  19. 19.

    Third countries are countries that are not a member of the EU or NATO.

  20. 20.

    https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/4369/European%20Security%20and%20Defence%20College%20(ESDC).

  21. 21.

    The EEAS is the diplomatic service and foreign and defence ministry of the EU, established by the Lisbon Treaty of 2009.

  22. 22.

    https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/eu-global-strategy/52208/sectoral-qualifications-framework-military-officer-profession_en.

  23. 23.

    http://www.gcsp.ch.

  24. 24.

    http://www.eda.europa.eu.

  25. 25.

    Created in 2007 by the Treaty of Velsen, The Netherlands. Participation by seven states: France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and The Netherlands.

  26. 26.

    https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/common-security-and-defence-policy-csdp/4369.

  27. 27.

    https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/2018-100_docsch_charter_-_final.pdf.

  28. 28.

    https://cdn3-eeas.fpfis.tech.ec.europa.eu/cdn/farfuture/_5GCkdWcdcnDDwZU5lCgMdw_ZLMZt6GeYAzLcK3uNXU/mtime:1520243963/sites/eeas/files/defence_fund_factsheet_0_0.pdf.

  29. 29.

    http://www.ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/e-library/documents/basic-documents/docs/eu_agenda_on_security_en.pdf.

  30. 30.

    http://www.europa.eu/globalstrategy/en/global-strategy-foreign-and-security-policy-european-union.

  31. 31.

    http://www.cepol.europa.eu. Since 1 July 2016, when the new legal mandate was created, CEPOL’s official name is ‘The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training’.

  32. 32.

    Training and education topics: organised crime and counter-terrorism, public order and policing of major events, planning and command of union missions, leadership, language development, train the trainers, law enforcement cooperation and information exchange, specific areas and instruments, fundamental rights and research and prevention at https://www.cepol.europa.eu.

  33. 33.

    https://www.cepol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/CCWP-%20Customs%20Law%20Enforcement%20Training%20Catalogue%202018.pdf.

  34. 34.

    http://eeas.europa.eu/diplomatic-network/european-neighbourhood-policy-enp_en.

  35. 35.

    http://www.cepol.europa.eu/who-we-are/partners-and-stakeholders/external-partners.

  36. 36.

    EU Internal Security strategy from 2008 and the adopted Solidarity Clause, Article 222, of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.

  37. 37.

    http://www.frontex.europa.eu.

  38. 38.

    http://www.ecahe.eu/w/index.php/European_Joint_Master%27s_in_Strategic_Border_Management_(EJMSBM).

  39. 39.

    The countries are the Baltic States, Spain and The Netherlands.

  40. 40.

    Education and training for border guards is aligned to the EU Bologna and Copenhagen principles and the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF).

  41. 41.

    http://www.natoschool.nato.int.

  42. 42.

    http://www.ndc.nato.int.

  43. 43.

    Also referred to as the ‘Other Partners across the Globe’, which include Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

  44. 44.

    Agreements made between NATO and the EU to allow the EU to draw on NATO assets for EU crisis management operations.

  45. 45.

    Joint Declaration by the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO, Warsaw, 8 July 2016.

  46. 46.

    Hofland 2017.

  47. 47.

    Comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. See http://www.visegradgroup.eu.

  48. 48.

    Comprising Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. See http://www.nordefco.org.

  49. 49.

    Comprising Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. See http://www.baltasam.org.

  50. 50.

    Comprising Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxemburg. See http://www.benelux.int.

  51. 51.

    The Bologna Process streamlines the applications for education in the wider Europe, see http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/policies/higher-education/bologna-process-and-european-higher-education-area_en.

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, PO Box 90002, 4800 PA, Breda, The Netherlands

    Sabine Mengelberg

  2. Netherlands Defence Academy, PO Box 90002, 4800 PA, Breda, The Netherlands

    Riccardo Scalas

Authors
  1. Sabine Mengelberg
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  2. Riccardo Scalas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabine Mengelberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Wim Klinkert

  2. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Myriame Bollen

  3. Institute for Management Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Marenne Jansen

  4. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Henk de Jong

  5. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Eric-Hans Kramer

  6. Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, Breda, The Netherlands

    Lisette Vos

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Mengelberg, S., Scalas, R. (2019). A European Army of Thinking Soldiers – European Academic Officers’ Education: Challenges and Opportunities. In: Klinkert, W., Bollen, M., Jansen, M., de Jong, H., Kramer, EH., Vos, L. (eds) NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019. NL ARMS. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_19

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