Council Decision 2012/698/CFSP of 13 November 2012 on the establishment of a warehouse for civilian crisis management missions

14.11.2012 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 314/25
COUNCIL DECISION 2012/698/CFSP
of 13 November 2012
on the establishment of a warehouse for civilian crisis management missions
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 26, Article 42(4) and Article 43(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) In December 2004, the Council approved the Civilian Headline Goal (CHG) 2008, in which it stated that the Union should be able to take the decision to launch a mission within 5 days of the approval of the Crisis Management Concept by the Council and that specific civilian capabilities of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) should be deployable within 30 days of the decision to launch the mission.
(2) Upon the approval of the CHG 2008, further political impetus to address civilian rapid deployment was provided by the Council’s adoption of the CHG 2010 in November 2007 and by its Declaration on strengthening capabilities, endorsed by the European Council in December 2008.
(3) To ensure rapid deployment capability in a sustainable and cost-efficient manner, the establishment of a warehouse for civilian crisis management missions is needed. A study has confirmed the feasibility of warehousing as an effective tool for establishing the means of rapid deployment of physical assets required by civilian crisis management missions.
(4) In January 2010, a temporary solution for the storage of assets required for civilian crisis management missions was found by storing surplus equipment within the premises of the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the moment, assets which allow 200 staff to deploy in a new mission are also stored within those premises. However, due to the temporary nature of this arrangement, a longer term solution needs to be found.
(5) In accordance with the chain of command in civilian crisis management missions, the Civilian Operation Commander, in cooperation with the Commission, needs to be able to ensure that the rapid deployment needs and operational requirements of the civilian crisis management missions are met.
(6) To that end, the Council emphasised in its Conclusions on ESDP of 17 November 2009 that a permanent capacity to store new and existing strategic material is a vital resource to ensure rapid deployment of equipment to new and existing missions, as well as ensuring sound financial management. Such a warehouse should be established through a procurement procedure resulting in a contract between the Commission and the warehouse operator. The Commission has prepared appropriate terms of reference for the procurement procedure, in cooperation with the European External Action Service (EEAS),