Agreement between the Member States of the European Union concerning claims introduced by each Member State against any other Member State for damage to any property owned, used or operated by it or injury or death suffered by any military or civilian staff of its services, in the context of an EU crisis management operation - Declaration by Member States
Date: 2004-04-28
Institutions: Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: EU Member State, accession to an agreement, civilian personnel, common foreign and security policy, indemnification, military personnel, victim, war damage

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(Information)

COUNCIL

AGREEMENT

between the Member States of the European Union concerning claims introduced by each Member
State against any other Member State for damage to any property owned, used or operated by it
or injury or death suffered by any military or civilian staff of its services, in the context of an EU
crisis management operation

(2004/C 116/01)

THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, MEETING
WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and in particular Title V thereof;

Whereas:

(1) The European Council has decided, in pursuit of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, to give the
EU the capabilities required to take and implement decisions on the full range of conflict prevention
and crisis management tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU.

(2) The Agreement between the Member States of the European Union concerning the status of

— military and civilian staff seconded to the institutions of the European Union,

— headquarters and forces which may be available to the European Union in the context of the
preparation and execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises,

— military and civilian staff of the Member States put at the disposal of the European Union to act in

this context,

known as the EU SOFA, is in general applicable only to the metropolitan territory of the Member
States.

(3) The provisions of Article 18 of the EU SOFA are not applicable to claims by a Member State against
any other Member State for damage to any property owned by it or injury or death suffered by any
military or civilian personnel of its armed services, insofar as the act causing the damage, injury or
death mentioned below occurs either within the territory of third countries where the EU crisis
management operation is conducted or sustained, or on the high seas.

(4) Specific agreements (SOFA) will have to be concluded with the host third countries concerned in the
case of exercises or operations taking place outside the territory of the Member States. These agree-
ments will generally contain provisions related to claims introduced by the third countries concerned
or by their nationals,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

In this Agreement, the term:

1.

‘military personnel’ shall mean:

Article 1

(a) military personnel seconded by the Member States to the General Secretariat of the Council in order

to form the European Union Military Staff (EUMS);

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(b) military personnel, other than personnel from the EU institutions, who may be drawn upon by the
EUMS from the Member States in order to provide temporary augmentation if requested by the
European Union Military Committee (EUMC), for activities in the context of the preparation and
execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises;

(c) military personnel from the Member States who are seconded to the headquarters and forces which
may be made available to the EU, or personnel thereof, in the context of the preparation and execu-
tion of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises;

2.

‘civilian personnel ’ shall mean civilian personnel seconded by the Member States to EU institutions for
activities in the context of the preparation and execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the
TEU, including exercises, or civilian personnel, with the exception of locally hired personnel, working
with headquarters or forces or otherwise made available to the EU by the Member States for the same
activities.

Article 2

The provisions of this Agreement shall apply only insofar as the act causing the damage, injury or death
below mentioned occurs:

— in the framework of the preparation and execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU,

including exercises and

— outside any territory to which the EU SOFA applies.

Article 3

Each Member State shall waive all its claims against any other Member State for injury or death suffered by
any of its military or civilian personnel while such personnel were engaged in the performance of their
official duties, except in cases of gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

Article 4

Each Member State shall waive all its claims against any other Member State for damage to any prop-
1.
erty owned, used or operated by it in connection with the preparation and execution of the tasks referred
to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises, except in cases of gross negligence or wilful misconduct,
if such damage:

— was caused by military or civilian personnel from the other Member State in the execution of their

duties in connection with the aforementioned tasks, or

— arose from the use of any vehicle, vessel or aircraft owned by the other Member State or used or oper-
ated by its personnel and provided either that the vehicle, vessel or aircraft causing the damage was
used in connection with the aforementioned tasks, or that the damage was caused to property being so
used.

2.
Claims for maritime salvage by a Member State against any other Member State shall be waived,
provided that the vessel or cargo salvaged was owned by a Member State or used or operated by its
personnel in connection with the aforementioned tasks.

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Article 5

In cases of claims, other than those waived by virtue of Articles 3 and 4 for:

— damage to any property owned, used or operated by a Member State in connection with the prepara-

tion or execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises,

— injury or death suffered by any personnel from a Member State while such personnel were engaged in

the performance of their official duties,

the issue of the liability of any Member State shall be determined and the amount of damages shall be
agreed by negotiation between the Member States concerned, unless those Member States agree otherwise.

A Member State shall waive its claim in any case where the damage is less than the amount of
EUR 10 000. This amount may be amended by a Decision of the Member States meeting within the
Council, acting unanimously.

Article 6

The provisions of Article 4 and 5 do not entitle a Member State to refuse to pay to a party, other than a
party to this Agreement, full or partial compensation for damage caused to an asset provided by this party
to one or more Member States under a rental, lease, charter or other arrangement.

Article 7

Any dispute between Member States relating to claims which cannot be resolved by negotiations between
the Member States concerned shall be submitted to an arbitrator selected by agreement between the
Member States concerned from among the nationals of the States concerned who hold, or have held, high
judicial office. If the Member States concerned are unable within two months to agree upon an arbitrator,
each Member State concerned may request the President of the Court of Justice of the European Commu-
nities to select a person with the aforesaid qualifications.

Article 8

1. Member States shall notify the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union of the
completion of the constitutional procedures for the approval of this Agreement. This Agreement shall
enter into force on the first day of the second month following the notification by the last Member State of
the completion of these constitutional procedures.

The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union shall act as depository of this Agree-
2.
ment. The depository shall publish this Agreement in the Official Journal of the European Union, as well
as information about its entry into force following the completion of the constitutional procedures referred
to in paragraph 1.

Article 9

This Agreement is drawn up in Danish, German, English, Finnish, French, Dutch, Greek, Italian, Portuguese,
Spanish and Swedish, each language being equally authentic.

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Hecho en Bruselas, el veintiocho de abril del dos mil cuatro.

Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den otteogtyvende april to tusind og fire.

Geschehen zu Brüssel am achtundzwanzigsten April zweitausendvier.

Έγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις είκοσι οκτώ Απριλίου δύο χιλιάδες τέσσερα.

Done at Brussels on the twenty-eight day of April in the year two thousand and four.

Fait à Bruxelles, le vingt-huit avril deux mille quatre.

Fatto a Bruxelles, addì ventotto aprile duemilaquattro.

Gedaan te Brussel, de achtentwintigste april tweeduizendvier.

Feito em Bruxelas, em vinte e oito de Abril de dois mil e quatro.

Tehty Brysselissä kahdentenakymmenentenäkahdeksantena päivänä huhtikuuta vuonna kahsituhattaneljö.

Som skedde i Bryssel den tjugoåttonde april tjugohundrafyra,

Pour le gouvernement de la République française

Thar ceann Rialtas na hÉireann

For the Government of Ireland

Per il Governo della Repubblica italiana

Pour le gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg

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Voor de Regering van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden

Für die Regierung der Republik Österreich

Pelo Governo da República Portuguesa

Suomen hallituksen puolesta

På finska regeringens vägnar

På svenska regeringens vägnar

For the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain

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Pour le Gouvernement du Royaume de Belgique

Voor de Regering van het Koninkrijk België

Für die Regierung des Königreichs Belgien

For regeringen for Kongeriget Danmark

Für die Regierung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Για την Κυβέρνηση της Ελληνικής ∆ηµοκρατίας

Por el Gobierno del Reino de España

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DECLARATION BY MEMBER STATES

In signing this Agreement, all Member States will endeavour, insofar as their internal legal system enables
them, to limit as far as possible their claims against any other Member State for injury, death of military or
civilian personnel, or damage to any assets owned, used or operated by themselves, except in cases of
gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

Members States will also endeavour to fulfil as soon as possible the requirements of their own constitu-
tional procedures in order to allow a prompt entry into force of this Agreement.