Finabel Finabel is a European organisation created with a view to promote interoperability ( " ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together " ) and cooperation between the national armies of the member states of the European Union ( EU ) . The organisation was founded in 1953 , and its name is the acronym of the initial letters of the member states - France , Italy , the Netherlands , Belgium , and Luxembourg . It became FINABEL when Germany ( Allemagne ) joined in 1956 , shortly after West Germany was rearmed in 1955 . Later , the name has been kept as a proper noun , written in lower - case , when membership further expanded . Finabel was founded by armies which belonged to both NATO and Western European Union . Finabel is under the control of the member states ' army chiefs of staff , and the organisation ' s work agenda consists of studies and working groups . Finabel has a small permanent secretariat of a few people . The studies carried out by Finabel take the form of : - Reports : results of studies entrusted to the Working Groups . - Agreements : relate to the military characteristics of equipment . - Conventions : standardise procedures , testing methods and glossaries in order to facilitate exchanges between member states . Definition . The Finabel coordination committee is a land forces organisation comprising 17 Member states of the European Union with a view to promote interoperability between the land forces of its Member states . Membership is open to all of the Member states of the European Union History . The committee was created in October 1953 under the acronym FINBEL by the Army Chiefs of Staff of France , Italy , Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg , and then became Finabel with the arrival of Germany ( Allemagne ) in 1956 . Initially , French was the official language . In the 2000s the use of English increased progressively and since 2011 is the language used across all levels . The Finabel Committee ’ s initial task focused on cooperation between armament programmes . This task quickly developed into the harmonisation of army doctrines . General Principles . The Finabel Committee ’ s tasks have a European perspective ; their purpose is to ‘ promote and facilitate interoperability between land forces across the full spectrum of military operations through the harmonisation of concepts , doctrines and procedures , whilst taking into account the joint military environment ’ , and to ‘ develop a common European understanding of defence problems by seeking to complement and co - operate with NATO and EU military structures . ’ The Finabel Committee takes its decisions based on consensus and equality between its Member states . The organisation expresses itself through reports entrusted to working groups , which produce ‘ studies ’ and ‘ agreements ’ on the military characteristics of equipment or ‘ conventions ’ that normalise certain procedures and glossaries in order to facilitate discussion between countries . The proposal and recommendations that result from Finabel ’ s work can be freely applied by the land components and its member states . Since the creation of Finabel was not the result of an intergovernmental agreement , Finabel has the status of an informal international de facto association . Structure . The Army Chiefs of Staff Committee . Executive , the highest level . It meets once a year to summarise work of the past year and to establish the objectives for the coming year . The chairmanship of the committee changes annually . The Principal Military Experts ( PME ) Committee . Made up primarily of officers responsible for doctrine , planning and studies within the staff of land components of Finabel member states . It meets twice a year to analyse the directives of the Chiefs of Staff and reformulate them in terms of missions to be distributed among the Working Groups . Belgium has provided a chairman for this committee . The Permanent Secretariat . Located in Brussels , the only permanent structure . It deals with administrative and organisational matters . The Working Groups . 4 Standing Working Groups carry out studies ( missions ) distributed by the Principal Military Experts Committee in various areas of interest to the Armies . - ENGAGEMENT : ( Engage / Protect / Training ) - " Effective Engagement " , it studies and harmonises the doctrine , methods of action and procedures relating to the use of land forces . - MANOEUVRE : ( Sustainability / Deployability ) - " Effective Logistics " . - KNOWLEDGE : ( C4I / Information & Intel ) . - FORCE DEVELOPMENT : " Conceptual and prospective studies " . It drafts general concepts for Finabel and undertakes conceptual and prospective studies in order to create a framework for further studies by Finabel Working Groups . The Coordination Commission . Chaired by the head of the Permanent Secretariat , it gathers all Working Groups ' chairmen . Provides a better coordination between Finabel members and a close collaboration between the groups . Member states . As of 2012 , membership consists of 17 countries : Finabel has as its stated ambition to bring all member states of the European Union within the organisation . Emblem and motto . The two crossed swords represent Finabel ’ s land identity . The twelve stars represent the strong link with Europe , maintained by Finabel since its creation . The shield represents the defence of peace , a key foundation of European military forces . On the left we can see Ares , Roman God of War , expressing its violence and , on the right we can see the Goddess Athena , who personifies wisdom and the ordered side of war , abiding by the rules which characterise our democracies . This symbol is summarised by the Latin phrase , which means ‘ reflection serving military action ’ , Finabel ’ s essential purpose . Observers . Finabel welcomes observer organisations from the EU and NATO : the EDA ( European Defence Agency ) , the EUMS ( European Union Military Staff ) the NAAG ( NATO Army Armament Group ) as well as the following bodies : CHENS ( CHiefs of European NavieS ) , EAG European Air Group ) and ELDIG ( European Land Defence Industry Group ; sectorial land component of ASD , the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe ) . The objective is to consult on the different points of views and to prevent any duplication or contradiction of NATO ’ s doctrine or the concepts outlined by the military organisations of the EU .