Supplementary and amending budget 2/2001, section II Council

This estimate relating to the supplementary and amending budget for the financial year 2001 is being submitted to meet the Council's requirements arising from the conclusions of the Santa Maria da Feira European Council in June 2000 and the Nice European Council in December 2000 as regards strengthening the common security and defence policy (ESDP). The requests for appropriations covered by this estimate were thus not quantifiable with any precision when the institution's budgetary requests for the financial year 2001 were submitted. Essentially, to ensure that the above decisions with regard to the ESDP are implemented, the number of permanent staff of the Council General Secretariat must be increased in order to establish a civilian structure with politico-military expertise, with the task of dealing with the civilian aspects of crisis management and assisting the relevant ESDP bodies. This politico-military structure for dealing with the civilian aspects of crisis management would be composed of three directorates: a political affairs directorate, an operations and exercises directorate and an external action mechanisms directorate. Of the 39 posts in the new structure to be filled by A or equivalent officials, the General Secretariat will cover requirements in the case of 22 posts, either by redeployment, use of existing staff or the secondment of national experts. The request for the creation of new posts therefore only concerns 17 category A posts and, in any case, covers fields in which the General Secretariat does not have the necessary expertise. In this context, the COREPER's undertaking that the 12 new A posts newly created under the 2001 general budget for other DGs would be restored to the GSC insofar as they were being used in advance to back up the recruitment procedures for the politico-military structure. Two category B posts are considered essential to create executive administrative business support for the new structure and four temporary C1 grade posts are required in order to permit the recruitment of a very limited number of secretaries possessing the special abilities and skills required in highly confidential sectors. It should be noted that the General Secretariat will find most of the secretarial back-up needed for the new structure, estimated at more or less 20 C grade officials, by means of redeployment. Related needs: The creation of both the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) and the politico-military structure requires the General Secretariat to strengthen its capability in several related sectors, in particular security, communications, the buildings department and data processing. To meet these requirement, the General Secretariat is limiting its request to the creation of 28 additional posts (i.e. 8 A, 14 B and 6 C posts). The Council is currently examining a draft Decision on the rules applicable to national experts in the military field on secondment to the General Secretariat, i.e. to the EUMS, whose mandate was defined in the framework of the proceedings of the Nice European Council. The aim of the Decision will be, in particular, to align emoluments on those already applying in the JHA sector. In light of the number of staff to be taken on in 2001, andespecially the amendments to the rules in question, estimated additional appropriations required in 2001 would amount to EUR 3 730 000; however, since it is important not to prejudge the decision on the central aspect of the rules under consideration, i.e. the daily subsistence allowance, it has been deemed appropriate to enter the corresponding appropriations, i.e. EUR 3 369 000, in the reserve. These rules will also be extended to other national experts so as to provide the General Secretariat with expertise in the fields of data security and crisis management. Estimate appropriations required to extend the rules to some fifteen or so additional experts may be put at EUR 694 000. Finally, appropriations relating to planned infrastructure for the ESDP sector, especially in the field of telecommunications and data security, need to be increased in view of the very high security standards required. With regard to the equipment deemed essential for the proper functioning of the EUMS anbd the crisis management centre ('situation centre'), the scale of which could not be judged when the Preliminary Draft Budget for 2001 was being prepared, the technical discussions conducted in the meantime have led to the identification of further immediate requirements with regard to secure communication infrastructures, calling for appropriations totalling EUR 1 840 000, especially given the urgent need for these installations; it is mainly a question of high security automated office equipment and encryption equipment. In view of the steep rise in telecoms costs generally owing to the installation of the EUMS, the appropriation in question should also be increased by EUR 215 000, including a dedicated link between the 3 Council building and a substantial upgrading of the telephone switchboard, requiring additional appropriations amounting to EUR 200 000. The implications of the adoption by the Union of the WEU's WEU-NET communications network, i.e. the initial cost of communications, estimated at EUR 135 000, and the cost of the maintenance and immediate development of the network, estimated at EUR 125 000, are a further factor in the equation; appropriations totalling EUR 50 000 should also be provided for the initial stage of the link with the WEU Satellite Centre. Lastly, the very high security standards which this new infrastructure will have to meet entail the purchase of special furniture (EUR 200 000) and electronic anti-listening equipment (EUR 100 000), a special extra effort in the field of training for Security Office staff (EUR 50 000 to be entered under Title I) and the supply of measuring and monitoring equipment for checking the efficiency and integrity of data security measures (EUR 150 000), a task to be performed by the new unit just set up by internal decision to ensure conformity in this area.�