BRUSSELS: The commander of the EU peacekeeping mission in Bosnia has to know a thing or two about communication. Maj Gen David Leakey manages 7,000 soldiers from 22 European countries in an effort to maintain stability in the Balkan state, which is still recovering from the ravages of bitter ethnic conflict of the early 1990s.
Yet to make simple phone calls to his troops on the ground in Bosnia and his headquarters back in Sarajevo, Maj Gen Leakey must carry two mobile radios. Similarly, supplying spare parts for the vast assortment of military vehicles used by EU forces in Bosnia is a logistical headache, according to an assessment by the head of the European Defence Agency (EDA), Nick Whitney.
"The vehicle park in Bosnia has an air of a museum about it in terms of diversity, and all these vehicles need different spare parts shipped in from around Europe," he says.
"It is highly inefficient, so you could imagine the logistical drag on a multinational mission further afield. The supply line is not a problem in Bosnia, but it may be in other operations," says Mr Whitney, who notes the problems in Bosnia were less difficult than they might have been because the EU took over an existing Nato mission.
With the EU now undertaking missions as far away as Aceh in Indonesia and drawing up plans for rapid reaction forces, better military co-ordination is needed.
But a lack of co-ordination of defence spending in the EU and a tendency by member-states to buy arms from national suppliers are hampering these efforts, says Mr Whitney.
EU states spend about €160 billion on defence annually, and the EDA estimates that up to 75 per cent of contracts are awarded in national tenders that are not open to proper competition.
EU market rules that force competition in other industrial sectors do not apply in defence, if member states can cite national security concerns.
The protection of national defence industries is also wasting taxpayers' money, according to Mr Whitney, who cites the proliferation of redundant heavy weapons such as battle tanks and magazines of 'dumb' bombs (with no electronic guidance systems).
"In 20 years' time I don't think it will be acceptable to drop 'dumb' bombs . . . general warfare used to be a simple case of blasting the enemy, but now operations take place under very restricted rules of engagement. The concept of minimising casualties is very important," says Mr Whitney, who acknowledges that a change in mindset is required from military chiefs of staff who are still stuck on conventional warfare.
This failure to integrate defence policy and procurement in the EU is cited by the US think-tank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), as a major weakness that has led to duplication and expenditure on outdated equipment.
A CSIS report last year noted that EU forces lacked the precision-guided bombs to undertake more than 15 per cent of the air sorties in the UN/Nato mission in Kosovo.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea says Irish troops (currently in Liberia and Bosnia) have not encountered problems from a lack of co-ordination among EU forces. But he acknowledges that crisis management operations require much more co-ordination.
"The key issue in relation to EU crisis management operations is inter-operability and this goes way beyond just equipment. It also includes training, military doctrine, operating procedures, command and control, culture, rules of engagement," he says.
The need to strengthen the industrial and market position of European defence companies to better position EU military forces was acknowledged in a Green Paper published by the European Commission in 2003.
But amending the EU treaty dealing with defence procurement would take years of negotiation. Instead, the EDA is proposing that member-states sign up to a voluntary code of conduct to persuade states to open procurement to proper competition, says Mr Whitney.
But buying from foreign suppliers could cost tens of thousands of jobs in member states with uncompetitive defence firms and will be politically difficult to achieve.
"Intellectually most member states increasingly accept that cheating is a bad thing long-term as it means defence industries remain fragmented, uncompetitive, nationally-based", says Mr Whitney, who hopes states will now change their procurement policies. If they don't, EU commanders on missions will face continued logistical challenges.