Contact with new French Professional Military Associations
On 2 October 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued judgements on two cases, namely Matelly vs France and Adefdromil vs France. In both cases a possible violation of article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was an essential element. Until that moment French soldiers …
NATO-EU Joint Declaration
Two years after the Wales Summit, the world changed drastically. European citizens need to be secured and the fact that they live in EU member states, NATO member states or states which are a member of both organisations (NATO and EU share 22 members), makes that a strong cooperation between …
EUROMIL Board in Strasbourg
From 4 to 6 July 2016, the Board of EUROMIL visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg, facilitated by Ivo Belet, Member of the European Parliament. The members of the Board had the occasion to visit the premises of the European Parliament in Strasburg, and learn about its policy and decision …
“We Need a Shared Vision and Common Action!”
It is hard these days to address an issue without, at least briefly, coming back on the outcome of the UK referendum on the European Union, better known as Brexit. Although we will withhold us from writing one more Brexit analysis, we would like to add some reflections to the …
Priorities of the Slovak EU Council Presidency
On 1 July 2016 Slovakia will take over the EU Council Presidency from the Netherlands. As the Presidency rotates every 6 months, Slovakia will hand it over to Malta on 1 January 2017. The three countries have closely worked together to establish the 18 months working programme. Within this common …
PACE Adopts Resolution on Women in the Armed Forces
On 21 June 2016, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted the Resolution “Women in the armed forces: promoting gender equality, putting an end to gender-based violence”. The Resolution was drafted by the French Senator Maryvonne Blondin, who also exchanged views with EUROMIL during her fact-finding …
Roundtable on the Role of Military Associations and Unions in the Baltic Countries and Eastern Region
On 7 June 2016 in Riga, EUROMIL together with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) hosted an event on international standards and good practices concerning the human rights of armed forces personnel, including what conditions enable military associations to be effective in safeguarding the rights of …
Interesting reading: Envisioning European defence
The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the EU agency dealing with the analysis of foreign, security and defence policy issues, has recently published an interesting research paper entitled “Envisioning European defence: five futures”. The paper, to which contributed several authors, assumes that European policy-makers have the power to …
OSCE Conference on the Code of Conduct
On 2 and 3 June 2016, the German Chairmanship of the OSCE organised a conference on the “Code of Conduct: Parliamentary Control and Oversight of the Security Sector” in Berlin. The conference brought together over 100 representatives of more than 30 states and institutions. Parliamentarians, OSCE officials and ombuds-institutions were …
Federal Assembly of the European Movement International
On 27 May 2016, the European Movement International (EMI) held its Federal Assembly in The Hague. The meeting brought together over 60 delegates from national councils as well as international member associations, amongst which EUROMIL, to discuss joint policy positions and vote on administrative procedures. During the morning session, the …