NATO-EU: chronology

27 april 2006: Informal ministerial NATO-EU dinner (Sofia).
1 march 2006: EU Cell set up at SHAPE.
7 December 2005: Informal ministerial NATO-EU dinner (Brussels)
3 november 2005: NATO Permanent Liaison Team set up at the EU Military Staff (EUMS)
3 october 2005: Agreement on Military Permanent Arrangements establishing a NATO Liaison Team at EUMS and an EU cell at SHAPE
20 September 2005: Informal ministerial transatlantic/ NATO-EU lunch (New York)
2 December 2004: beginning of the EU-led Operation Althea.
18 February 2004: France, Germany and the United Kingdom launch the idea of EU rapid reaction units composed of joint battle groups
December 2003: NATO and the EU start to assess options for the possible termination of NATO's stabilisation force in Bosnia (SFOR) by the end of 2004 and its transition to a new EU mission; Adoption by the European Council of a 'European Security Strategy'
19-25 November 2003: First joint NATO-EU crisis management exercise (CME/CMX 03) based on the standing 'Berlin-Plus' arrangements
29 July 2003: Development of a common strategy for the Western Balkans
19 May 2003: First meeting of the NATO-EU capability group
31 March 2003: Transition from the NATO-led operation 'Allied Harmony' to the EU-led Operation 'Concordia' in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹
17 March 2003: Agreement on a set of key cooperation documents, known as the 'Berlin-Plus' package
14 March 2003: Entry into force of a NATO-EU security of information agreement
16 December 2002: EU-NATO Declaration on European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)
21-22 November 2002: At the Prague Summit, NATO members declare their readiness to give the EU access to NATO assets and capabilities for operations in which the Alliance is not engaged militarily
19 November 2001: Creation of the European Capability Action Plan (ECAP)
30 May 2001: First formal NATO-EU meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Budapest. The NATO Secretary General and the EU Presidency issue a joint statement on the Western Balkans
24 January 2001: Beginning of institutionalised relations between NATO and the EU with the establishment of joint meetings, including at the level of foreign ministers and Ambassadors. Exchange of letters between the NATO Secretary General and the EU Presidency on the scope of cooperation and modalities for consultation
7 December 2000: Signature of the EU's Treaty of Nice containing amendments reflecting the operative developments of the ESDP as an independent EU policy (entry into force February 2003)
19 September 2000: The North Atlantic Council and the interim Political and Security Committee of the European Union meet for the first time to take stock of the progress in NATO-EU relations
10 December 1999: At the Helsinki Council meeting, EU members establish military "headline goals" to allow the EU, by 2003, to deploy up to 15 brigades (50 000 – 60 000 troops) for 'Petersberg tasks' (these consist of humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping and peacemaking). EU members also create political and military structures including a Political and Security Committee, a Military Committee and a Military Staff. The crisis management role of the WEU is transferred to the EU. The WEU retains residual tasks.
3-4 June 1999: European Council meeting in Cologne decides "to give the European Union the necessary means and capabilities to assume its responsibilities regarding a common European policy on security and defence"
23-25 April 1999: At the Washington Summit, Heads of State and Government decide to develop the 'Berlin-Plus' arrangements
3-4 December 1998: At a summit in St Malo, France and the United Kingdom make a joint statement affirming the EU's determination to establish a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)
2 October 1997: Signature of the EU's Treaty of Amsterdam incorporating the WEU's 'Petersberg tasks'. The EU affirms the role of the WEU as an integral part of its development and envisages the possible integration of the WEU into the European Union
3 June 1996: in Berlin, NATO foreign ministers agree for the first time to build up an ESDI within NATO, with the aim of rebalancing roles and responsibilities between Europe and North America. An essential part of this initiative was to improve European capabilities. They also decide to make Alliance assets available for WEU-led crisis management operations. These decisions lead to the introduction of the term "Berlin-Plus"
January 1994: At the Brussels Summit, NATO endorses the concept of Combined Joint Task Forces, which provides for separable but not separate deployable headquarters that could be used for European-led operations and is the conceptual basis for future operations involving NATO and other non-NATO countries
11 January 1994: NATO Heads of State and Government agree to make collective assets of the Alliance available on the basis of consultations in the North Atlantic Council, for WEU operations undertaken by the European allies in pursuit of their Common Foreign and Security Policy
19 June 1992: In Oslo, NATO foreign ministers support the objective of developing the WEU as a means of strengthening the European pillar of the Alliance and as the defence component of the EU, that would also cover the 'Petersberg tasks'
February 1992: the EU adopts the Maastricht Treaty, which envisages an intergovernmental Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and "the eventual framing of a common defence policy (ESDP). The WEU is considered as the EU's defence component; close cooperation between NATO and the WEU.

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NATO-EU: chronology