Background

1. In accordance with NATO’s Strategic Concept, through outreach and openness, the Alliance seeks to preserve peace, support and promote democracy, contribute to prosperity and progress, and foster genuine Partnership with and among all democratic Euro-Atlantic countries. This aims at enhancing the security of all, excludes nobody, and helps to overcome divisions and disagreements that could lead to instability and conflict. The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council is the overarching framework for all aspects of NATO’s cooperation with its Partners. Partnership for Peace is the principal mechanism for forging practical security links between the Alliance and its Partners and for enhancing interoperability between Partners and NATO.
2. NATO Ministers in their meetings in Reykjavik and Brussels in May/June 2002 stated that they looked forward to a new, more substantive relationship with Partners, which intensifies cooperation in responding to new security challenges, including terrorism. Ministers tasked the Council in Permanent Session to continue reviewing NATO’s Partnerships, with a view to presenting the Heads of State and Government at Prague with concrete proposals for further developing the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and Partnership for Peace (PfP) to better serve Allies and Partners in addressing the challenges of the 21st century.
3. In undertaking this review, Allies and Partners have recognised the continuing validity of the PfP Framework Document and the EAPC Basic Document. They have reconfirmed their joint commitment to strengthen and extend peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area, on the basis of the shared values and principles which underlie their cooperation. They have reaffirmed their commitment to Euro-Atlantic Partnership and their determination to further build on the success of EAPC and PfP across all areas of consultation and cooperation. Allies and Partners remain committed to relevant decisions of the Madrid and Washington Summits and will continue efforts to fully implement them. In this context, they stress the continued crucial role of interoperability of Allied and Partner forces as prerequisite of further successful cooperation in responding to crises.
4. Building on the distinctive roles of the EAPC and PfP the particular aim of the review was to ensure that the EAPC and PfP:

• contribute to international stability by providing interested Partners with systematic advice on, and assistance in, the defence and security - related aspects of their domestic reform process; where possible support larger policy and institutional reforms;
• help create favourable external conditions for domestic reform by appropriate forms of political dialogue and cooperation;
• contribute to international security by preparing interested Partners for, and engaging in, NATO-led operations and activities, including those related to the response to terrorism;
• continue to support, for interested Partners, NATO’s open door policy as reflected in the 1994 PfP Invitation document.

5. To reach this aim, the review was conducted with a view to:

• addressing effectively the diversity of Allies’ interests and Partners’ needs;
• adapting forms of consultation and cooperation to ensure that they respond to the new security challenges;
• further enhancing interoperability between Partner forces and those of the Alliance;
• rationalising and harmonising the relationship between EAPC and PfP;
• improving the management and organisation of the EAPC and PfP process.

Proposed innovations and adaptations

5.1 Enhancing Political and Security-Related Consultations

• Allies and Partners will strive to ensure that EAPC discussions focus to a greater degree on shared NATO and Partner political priorities and key security concerns. Allies will make efforts to inform Partners and/or seek their views at early stages of Alliance discussions on issues of importance to Partners’ political and security interests.
• Allies will welcome requests by Partners for political consultations with the Alliance, individually or in smaller groups, on issues of particular political and security importance to them. Relevant decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. Such consultations could be held at different levels, with Nations and/or the International Staff. They may but do not have to lead to more systematic political relationships.
• On a case-by-case basis and when appropriate, Allies may decide to invite individual Partners to participate in their deliberations on issues of particular relevance to those Partners, or on such issues where Partners’ views would be of particular significance to Allies.

5.2 Further Enhancing Interoperability

• Since PfP’s inception in 1994 interoperability has been a core element in NATO’s cooperation with Partners. The PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP), which was introduced in 1994 and considerably strengthened in 1997, is one of the most important vehicles for development of interoperability. PARP has made it possible to launch the NATO-led PfP operations in the Balkans, which has benefited from the substantial contributions from Partners. At the same time PARP has become a useful planning tool for participating Partners, having developed into a planning process very similar to NATO’s defence planning process. With the Washington Summit’s initiatives, PfP’s operational role has been further enhanced.

Allies and Partners :

• stress that the proven tools provided by the Washington Summit initiatives for the enhanced and more operational Partnership, in conjunction with PARP and exercises, including the most demanding ones, are crucial for further enhancing interoperability;
• agree that determined further efforts are necessary to ensure the full implementation of, and where needed increased scope for, these tools, in particular for the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) and the Training and Education Enhancement Programme (TEEP);
• will continue to consider developments related to interoperability in PfP in the evolution and possible adaptation of PARP.

5.3 Reflecting Broader Approach to Security in EAPC and PfP

• In consultation with Partners, Allies will:
  • review and if necessary expand the scope and contents of the PWP in order to appropriately address the new risks and challenges.
  • consider possible new measures to facilitate and harmonise operational cooperation between security structures including those beyond the responsibilities of respective MODs, according to requests by national authorities;
• Further develop cooperation in civil emergency planning, in order to support national authorities to prepare for the protection of the civilian population from WMD incidents, terrorist attacks, technological accidents and natural disasters. This may also include work on ways to promote interoperability between relevant national capabilities.
• Allies and Partners will:
  • reflect the broader approach to security in their political consultations and other discussions in the appropriate EAPC and PfP frameworks;
  • seek complementarity of their efforts in response to new security challenges, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and terrorism, with those of other international organisations.

5.4 A More Cohesive and Result-Oriented Partnership: the Partnership Action Plan Mechanism

• To enhance and focus their joint efforts in support of Euro-Atlantic security, Allies and Partners will develop and implement an issue-specific, result-oriented mechanism for practical cooperation involving Allies and interested Partners. Possible areas to which such approach could be applied include border security, capabilities for joint action, civil emergency, management of resources or environmental issues. Such a mechanism could also be applied to address pragmatically specific problems in regional context.
• Partnership Action Plan Against Terrorism will be a first effort of this kind. It will systematise and organise all forms of Partners’ interaction with NATO in the response to terrorism.

5.5 More Individualised and Comprehensive Relations with Partners:The Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP)

• Allies are determined to continue and enhance support for, and advice to, interested Partners, in their efforts to reform and modernise their defence and security systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Alliance stands ready to support larger policy and institutional reforms undertaken by Partners.
• In this context, Allies encourage Partners to seek closer relations with NATO individually and agree on Individual Partnership Action Plans which will prioritise, harmonise, and organise all aspects of NATO-Partner relationship in the EAPC and PfP frameworks, in accordance with NATO’s objectives and each interested Partner’ particular circumstances and interests.
• Through such plans, developed on a two-year basis, NATO will provide its focused, country-specific assistance and advice on reform objectives that interested Partners might wish to pursue in consultation with the Alliance. Intensified political dialogue on relevant issues may constitute an integral part of an IPAP process.
• IPAP would not replace the IPP nor affect a Partner’s participation in PARP. The IPP and its related database, modified as necessary, could be a subset of IPAP and continue to serve as a key instrument in organising Partner’s participation in PfP. For nations not opting for an IPAP, the process for the IPP would remain unchanged.

5.6 Increasing the Contribution of Partnership to Security and Stability at Sub-Regional Level

• Allies and Partners will continue and enhance their efforts to ensure security and stability in the Balkans. They will promote and support regional cooperation, building on the experience of NATO’s South-Eastern Europe Initiative (SEEI), SEEGROUP, and other regional efforts.
• Allies, in consultation and cooperation with interested Partners, and taking account of experience developed in South-Eastern Europe, will support regional cooperation in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
• For this purpose, they will be ready to designate experts or NATO facilitator(s) to help identify areas of common interest and support practical cooperation endeavours.
• Allies and Partners will seek application of the Partnership Action Plan mechanisms to address regional problems.
• Allies will encourage, in line with the overall aim of promoting interoperability in preparation for specific operations, the establishment of multinational formations between Partners, and between Partners and Allies, and the further development of existing arrangements in this regard.
• Allies will consider how NATO military headquarters at all relevant levels, could best support regional cooperation efforts in the Euro-Atlantic area.

5.7 Increasing the Association of Partners with NATO Decision Making Process in Specific Areas

• Allies, in consultation with Partners, will continue efforts to ensure, and to the maximum extent possible increase, involvement of Partners, as appropriate, in the planning, conduct and oversight of those activities and projects which they participate in and contribute to.
• To this end, they will:
  • Within the scope of the PMF,
    • consider, in general, the scope for further improvements in practising to the full the PMF provisions to involve contributing Partners as early as possible in the preparation of decisions relating to NATO-led operations in which they participate.
    • explore, in this context, possibilities for an appropriate involvement of Partners in assessments of relevant aspects of the terrorist threat.
  • In addition, examine where it would be appropriate to apply underlying principles and the spirit of the Political-Military Framework for NATO-led PfP Operations (PMF) to other specific Partnership-related activities and projects in which they participate or to which they contribute. Areas for consideration could include: PfP exercises, including PfP aspects of NATO/PfP exercise policy and programming as well as exercise development; and implementation of PfP Trust Funds.
  • Also examine how the involvement of participating Partners could, where appropriate, be enabled or further enhanced in the following areas, by pragmatic arrangements building on existing procedures:
    • in the development and implementation of Partnership Action Plans, such as for enhancing specific capabilities critical for defence against terrorist attacks;
    • In developing and agreeing Individual Partnership Action Plans ;
    • in the broader context of interoperability in PfP, PARP, and related work in the field of standardisation, including relevant aspects of NBC defence issues;
    • in Civil Emergency Planning (CEP).

5.8. Improving Liaison Arrangements between NATO and Partner Capitals

• Allies will consider ways to improve liaison arrangements between NATO and Partner capitals in order to make NATO expertise and guidance better available to countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, and with the aim of better supporting development and implementation of cooperation and information activities and programmes under EAPC and PfP.

5.9. Promoting Closer Routine Working Relationships between Military Structures as well as between Civil/Military Structures

• NATO and/or Allies will seek more formalised functional working relationships/liaison arrangements with Partners, for military units and headquarters, drawing on provisions already foreseen in the framework of the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC). These could include:
  • "Twinning" of Allied and Partner units and also between units of Partner countries, that are likely to co-operate in NATO-led crisis response operations; in particular arrangements for close cooperation and liaison should be established between forces specialised for employment in asymmetric environments;
  • Promoting, further enhancing and formalising working relationships already developed over time during exercises or operations between all levels of NATO Commands and Allied multi-national force headquarters with Partner forces and headquarters (“affiliation”), including attachment of Partner personnel to appropriate multi-national headquarters of the NATO Force Structure;
  • Based on existing liaison arrangements at the level of NATO Strategic Commands, expanding the scope of temporary assignments of Partner liaison personnel at subordinate levels of the NATO Command Structure to a more formalised approach, based on practical cooperation requirements.
• Allies, in consultation with Partners, will review existing PfP concepts and structures (including for the Partnership Coordination Cell (PCC), PfP Staff Elements (PSE) and PfP Training Centres) with the aim of making use of their full potential to involve Partners more closely, more directly and on a more regular basis in PfP related activities with NATO and Allied nations. This should include consideration of improving existing mechanisms for stocktaking, analysis and dissemination of lessons learned from NATO/PfP exercises.
• Allies and Partners will promote the establishment of routine working relationship, similar to those between military structures, also between relevant civil/military structures.

5.10 Offering Increased Opportunities for Civilian Partner Personnel in NATO Structures

• Allies will:
  • review the PfP Internship Programme with the aim of extending the scope for intern positions in other areas of the NATO/PfP work, increasing the number of slots offered and extending the internship time as appropriate;
  • examine the utility, feasibility, and potential consequences of a concept of civilian “Integrated PfP Staffs.”

5.11 Improving Funding Arrangements

• Allies will examine the PfP Funding Policy with a view to increasing flexibility in responding to Partners’ individual requests for subsidies, allowing for adequate funding for participation in Partnership activities and ensuring coherence between Partners’ funding requests and their Partnership objectives.
• The PfP Trust Fund policy has been revised to extend the mechanism to assist Partners in managing the consequences of defence reform. This may include, but is not limited to, projects promoting civil and democratic reform of the armed forces, retraining of military personnel, base conversion, and promoting effective defence planning and budgeting under democratic control. All initiatives will be run on a project basis.
• Allies will review the NATO policy on NSIP funding for PfP projects with a view to its fuller application, including to projects related to response to terrorism.

5.12 Improving the Organisation and Management of Partnership Work

• A notion of a “Euro-Atlantic Partnership”, encompassing both EAPC and PfP, highlights the coherent nature of NATO’s relationship with its Partners. Such a comprehensive approach will help to improve the procedures to steer and guide Partnership work efficiently and in a coherent way across the full spectrum of areas of cooperation under the EAPC and PfP frameworks.
• Allies will examine ways to harmonise and enhance NATO committee support for EAPC and PfP with a view to providing continuous and coherent political guidance on NATO’s objectives and policies for the Euro-Atlantic Partnership.
• Allies and Partners will enhance the role of the PMSC Clearing House in the context of bilateral assistance and the coordination of efforts on key PfP issues; and promote exchange of information with other International Organisations, in particular EU and OSCE, and with NGOs, on relevant concepts/programmes, to seek synergy in providing assistance. In this context, the idea of “mentoring Partnerships” (involving at least one NATO member and one Partner) as already practised for PfP Trust Funds will be further developed, with the aim of providing lead roles for Partner nations in specific functional or thematic areas.
• Allies and Partners will consider how to further improve the structure, organisation and conduct of EAPC meetings at all levels, and to adapt other aspects of the EAPC and PfP processes to ensure most efficient, coherent and coordinated support for the new, more substantive relationship between NATO and its Partners.

Resource Implications

6. To ensure credibility of NATO commitments, efficiency of efforts, and the consistency of these efforts with NATO political priorities, continuous, careful and full consideration will be given to financial and human resource implications of any of the proposed changes to EAPC/PfP policies, activities and forms of cooperation, at every stage of their development and implementation.

Recommendations

7. Heads of State and Governments are invited
   • to endorse this report;
   • to task the Council in Permanent Session to provide further guidance to the appropriate NATO committees as necessary to ensure that the proposals for the adaptation of the EAPC and the Partnership for Peace be further developed and implemented, and
   • to task the Council in Permanent Session to keep Foreign and Defence Ministers informed of progress and to provide a full report on the implementation of the Prague Summit decisions at their Autumn 2003 meetings.