BRUSSELS, 10 January 2005 — The EU’s response to the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster has turned the spotlight on the gap between its formidable financial might and its limited capacity to act fast and in a coordinated fashion on the ground.
With more than 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in public aid pledges on top of hundreds of millions more in private donations, the European Union has shown unparalleled generosity. But US troops and helicopters were the first to deliver emergency aid to the victims in worst-hit Indonesia a few days after the Dec. 26 earthquake-spawned tidal waves.
“I concede that Europe did not show exemplary logistical efficiency. It is not a criticism, just a fact,” French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said here Friday during a special EU meeting on his return from Asia. “We need a quick reaction force so that there is not just one country present within a few hours anywhere in the world,” he said, clearly alluding to the rapid deployment of US military assets. He voiced hope that in future “The EU will also be there.”
The 50 EU foreign, cooperation and health ministers who met here last week called on the Union’s executive and relevant EU bodies to look into ways to develop a rapid reaction force to deal with future disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunamis that killed more than 156,000 people in 11 countries.
The idea is not new. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier recalled that he had suggested it in 1999 while he served as EU commissioner after the earthquakes in Greece and Turkey. “But it runs into issues of competence,” he noted. One diplomat cited the legitimate desire of member states to retain control of their civil emergency units in case of a disaster, always unpredictable, on their soil.
Yet in 2001, the EU set up a mechanism to coordinate resources of member states to tackle large-scale catastrophes on European territory. Relying on Brussels-based experts, it was activated during floods in Germany in 2002 and forest wildfires in Portugal in 2003. It was also used in the wake of the tsunami emergency to coordinate the various aid initiatives by member states. “The need for this mechanism is plain to see but so are its limits,” the diplomat said.
Friday, Barnier suggested creation of a “small Brussels-based task force to coordinate national and regional units assigned to this force.” After being selected in each country based on their skills, trained and given harmonized rules of engagement, these units “capable of being mobilized in a centralized and coordinated fashion” will also need appropriate logistics, the diplomat added.
But the Indian Ocean disaster has clearly shown that only the military has the capability to handle this type of contingency. “The interoperability (between civilian and military resources) is the most delicate issue,” the diplomat said, adding however that it was not “insurmountable”. Meanwhile EU ministers called for a fresh look into the call for “a European humanitarian aid volunteer corps.” But the idea, revived by External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, met with broad skepticism. “For reasons of effectiveness and cost, we should not duplicate structures,” warned German Foreign Minister Joshka Fischer.
