Eastern Partnership Panel on CSDP facilitates the participation by partner countries in the EU-led missions and operations. Currently three out of six EaP countries (Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine) participate in the EU-led missions in EUMAM RCA, EUTM Mali, and EUAM Ukraine or contribute to EU Battle Groups. As of today altogether 11 partner countries participate in 8 EU-led CSDP missions and operations.

The Eastern Partnership Panel on cooperation in the area of Common Security and Defence Policy convened for the sixth time on 25 April in Brussels. It gathered some 70 representatives from all EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine), EU Member States, EU institutions, and was chaired by Ms Clara Ganslandt (Head of CSDP, Partnerships and Agreements Division in Crisis Management and Planning Directorate, EEAS).

All partner countries and EU Member States expressed strong support and willingness to continue this multilateral framework and wish to have even more joint events, especially study/field trips, workshops, CSDP training/courses, etc. Partner countries praised a well-organized and very practical study trip on civilian CSDP to Helsinki (17-19 February 2016) and welcomed the report from the conference „EU Global Strategy: Eastern Partners in European Security” that took place on 2-4 March 2016 in Vilnius. All the activities on CSDP are conducted by EEAS in close cooperation with EU Member States and partner countries and co-sponsored by the European Union (DG NEAR, European Neighbourhood Instrument). 

Since the establishment of the Panel in 2013, approximately twenty five different activities have been organised so far: CSDP training courses and seminars (in Kiev, Tbilisi, Chisinau, and Minsk), workshops on civilian capabilities and legal aspects of international deployments, round table discussions in Brussels, visit to EU Battle Groups' exercise (Sweden), field visit to a CSDP mission (EUMM Georgia), conferences with civil society and academia (Vilnius), study trip on civilian CSDP in Helsinki, etc. According to the work plan of the Panel on CSDP, approximately 12 different activities are scheduled for 2016 (e.g. CBRN training, CSDP Orientation Courses in Tbilisi and Kiev, field visit to CSDP mission, workshop on public communication on CSDP, etc.). The Panel on CSDP facilitates dialogue on political and practical aspects of participation by interested partner countries in EU CSDP missions and operations, provides experience sharing on engagement in international crisis management and peacekeeping activities.

Participants welcomed very timely and useful presentations delivered by EEAS on the review of European Neighbourhood Policy and its security dimension, about Joint Communication on Hybrid Threats, EU-UN Strategic partnerships in crisis management and on CFSP/CSDP tools in countering migrant smuggling. Partner countries and EU Member States were encouraged to continue working together with the EU on identifying the priority areas of joint cooperation in the field of security and defence. 

The successful multilateral track has also accelerated the bilateral cooperation and attracted partner countries to send more troops to CSDP missions. Ukraine contributes to CSDP missions since 2003, whereas Georgia and the Republic of Moldova started participating in the EU-led missions since 2014. Currently three out of six EaP countries (Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine) participate in the EU-led missions in EUMAM RCA, EUTM Mali, and EUAM Ukraine or contribute to EU Battle Groups. As of today altogether 11 partner countries participate in 8 EU-led CSDP missions and operations.