final minutes 18 steering committee meeting_en

MINUTE
18TH STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
Madrid, 10-12 March 2014
From the 10th to 12th March 2014, the 18th Steering Committee meeting of the Spanish
Presidency of the 5+5 Defense Initiative took place in Madrid.
On the first day of conference, in the presence of the 5+5 countries Delegations (List of
Attendance according to Annex A), Admiral Martínez Núñez, General Director of
National Defense Policy, welcomed all participants, stressing the importance of this
Initiative.
General Ruiz de Gordoa, Deputy General Director of Defense Policy, also welcomed all
delegations.
The Heads of Delegations presented the members of their Delegation, thanked Spain
for receiving them, expressed their joy for the tenth anniversary of the 5+5 Defense
initiative and gave Spain best wishes for the Spanish Presidency of the 5+5 Defense
Initiative during 2014.
Algerian Delegation underlined the importance of consensus within the 5+5 Initiative.
The French Delegation remarked their interest in improving rationalization of activities.
The Italian Delegation expressed their satisfaction on the goals achieved by the 5+5
Initiative in the first 10 years, renewing its commitment for the future. The Libyan
Delegation saw this meeting as an opportunity to review former activities and look
other ones to be achieved. The Maltese Delegation remarked that 5+5 is a guarantee
for a stabilized and safer Mediterranean Bank. Malta hopes that this cooperation will
continue, specially with the agreement on the Manual of Procedures. The Mauritanian
Delegation stated that the Initiative has evolved very fast, but with good goals
achieved such as maritime protection, and looked for new goals to be obtained
starting from this meeting facing all diverse threats on our region. The Moroccan
Delegation thanked Spain for the organization. The Portuguese Delegation remarked
the importance of Mediterranean policy and announced the benefits of 5+5 web page.
The Tunisian Delegation announced they are preparing their Presidency in 2015. They
also announced the new Constitution approved in its country, with a new Government,
and the Armed Forces assumed its main mission, also announcing an exercise “Amitie
Plus Livex 2016”, inviting all partners to participate with personnel and assets.
The Spanish Presidency Delegation introduced itself. Agenda for the meeting was
approved and followed by a presentation on the Spanish 5+5 Defence Initiative
Presidency. Features and objectives of the Spanish Presidency Term were presented.
General Ruiz de Gordoa stressed the importance of the Initiative itself, regardless of
who chairs the Presidency. The objectives of the Spanish Presidency are to build on the
job done by our predecessors. This is the only open forum on the Mediterranean,
where all opinions are respected and shared. Main Action Areas will be Maritime
Safety and Security, Armed Forces possible contribution to civil protection in disaster
situations and Air Safety in the Mediterranean, as well as Research and Education. 5+5
Defence Initiative should work on these four main areas and try to push forward other
possible topics. The three Pillars of the Spanish Presidency are: linking 5+5 Initiative
with civilian society, training in managing disaster relief emergencies and promoting
Maritime Security initiatives in maritime areas of 5+5 member states. To do so,
activities such as fora, seminars, “Seaborder” Exercise and the possible participation of
all 5+5 Flags in Spain´s National Day Parade.
This presentation was followed by an update of 2014 Action Plan of the 5+5 Defence
Initiative (Annex B), already approved in Guimarães. Most all activities that had been
planned were confirmed at the Summit and some of the dates and participation
figures were also confirmed. The Algerian Delegation confirmed dates for the Naval
Exercise on Maritime Pollution Initial, Main and Final Planning Conferences as well as
for the Live Exercise itself. All other activities were checked by all member states and
corrected if needed so. The Committee also started to plan on activities for Action Plan
2015 (Annex C).
The representative of the Tunisian Delegation presented some conclusions from last
CEMRES Experts Meeting, that took place last 30th January.
The Permanent Secretariat of the 5+5 Defence College exposed then the activities held
by this College along the past months (Cycle 2013-2014) and those foreseen in the
short term (Cycle 2014-2015) in all its levels (Basic, Intermediate and Superior)
modules. He also presented the work realized by the Academic Committee. Finally,
the themes proposed for Cycle 2015-2016 for Superior and Intermediate levels and an
evaluation of past activities developed by the College. And it was also proposed the
validation by the Steering Committee of the TOR Project of the College Insignia
approved by the Academic Committee. General Ruiz de Gordoa thanked the French
Colonel for his presentation and for the success of the Education Programme.
On the second session, the meeting focused on the presentation on the Maritime
Security Exercise “Seaborder 2014”, organization and planning process. This Exercise
will be organized between Portugal and Spain, in the aim of developing capabilities of
joint planning and common procedures in maritime security operations amongst 5+5
Initiative Member States.
The Spanish Presidency presented the format of the “Spanish Presidency Seminar, with
the goal of covering the three Spanish Presidency Pillars aforementioned in this
document. The seminar will be split into three panels. Spain invited experts from
member states.
Afterwards, the Spanish Presidency presented to the Delegations the “Gender
Perspective Seminar in Armed Forces and in Operations” to be held during its
Presidency.
On the second day meeting, the Portuguese Delegation presented some 5+5 Initiative
Web Page Recommendations (Annex D) after a meeting held in Algeria on this issue
with participation of Algeria, Malta and Portugal. The recommendations were
approved by the Steering Committee.
The Spanish Presidency presented a study on Challenges in the Maritime Domain, with
an update on national and transnational maritime threats. The need of maritime
coordination and possible multilateral agreements on maritime security was welcome
and many statements on these issues were expressed by many Delegations, stressing
the importance of the Maritime Security for member states. The Algerian Delegation
finally proposed the Naval Working Group (NWG) to be tasked with the responsibility
of carrying out an efficient general coordination within the 5+5 Maritime Coordination
Mechanism, along with all issues related with Maritime Surveillance and Cooperation
with other regional initiatives. The proposal was accepted by the Steering Committee.
A presentation focused on the Emergencies Military Unit (UME) was given by Spain.
The UME role is to preserve citizens’ safety and well-being in cases of serious risk,
disaster, emergency or other public needs. Spain invited all Member States to send
observers to the VIP Day of UME´s Major Livex, to be held next April in Spain. Finally, a
proposal was made to the Steering Committee for the establishment of a network of
points of contact in the Ministries of Defence in order to facilitate the possible offer of
civil protection-related courses and exercises aimed at military units similar to UME.
Portugal mentioned that it had just created a similar Unit with a Commander that has
just attended the Superior Level 5+5 Course. France announced that, within the
Academic Committee, there is actually a network of POCs for this issue.
The Steering Committee pointed out the importance of studying the possibility to
continue organizing meetings for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie and Medical
Corps Chiefs in 2015 so as to strengthen ties among Member States Services.
The idea of studying the expansion of the bilateral “Amitie” Disaster Relief Exercise to
the 5+5 Community was agreed. The concept of the Exercise will be presented in more
detail by France and Tunisia next Steering Committee Meeting.
Approved by all Delegations, in English Version, in Madrid, on 12th March, 2014

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