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1.
NATO’s lead in defence conversion in the framework of the
Stability Pact Following
an agreement between Erhard Busek, Head of the Stability Pact,
and Lord George Robertson, the previous NATO's Secretary General,
NATO’s Defence and Security Economics Directorate (DSED)
has taken the lead for defence conversion in Working Table III.
NATO focus on the monitoring of programmes concerning the retraining
of released military personnel and the conversion of military
sites in SEE countries as well as the contacts with international
organisations related to conversion in SEE and has also other
roles in the Stability Pact (DPPI, SALW, Border Security and Management,…). 2.
NATO’s role in retraining NATO
has developed guidelines and basic principles for retraining of
redundant military personnel. A NATO Expert Team was set up to
provide national authorities with advice and recommendation on
draft programmes and plans. The United States, the United Kingdom,
Germany, Norway, France and recently Bulgaria took an active part
in the implementation of these programmes by providing expertise
and technical assistance. NATO’s experts do not provide
training to redundant militaries. They offer advice to governments
attempting to establish such programmes, and ultimately puts their
political weight behind national efforts to find assistance with
required funding. Another objective was to receive support from
financial institutions and donors (World Bank in Romania, Soros
and other donors such as Norway, the Netherlands and Luxembourg
in Bulgaria) to implement these programmes. 3.
NATO’s role in military sites conversion The
following areas have been addressed by the NATO Team during the
process: how are the remaining sites going to be prioritised for
possible conversion and what criteria are used to select sites
(environmental and social problems, economic potential); the assessment
of the sites; the development of ideas and proposals for possible
re-use; the clarifying roles and responsibilities (e.g. who is
responsible for environmental clean-up; the problem of the legal
transfer of the ownership of the site); the links with retraining
and resettlement of military personnel. Two Bulgarian pilot projects
(rehabilitation of the former military areas in Razgrad and Simitli)
have received a total funding of 3 Million Euro from the EU PHARE
programme with the strong support of NATO. Two other projects
are expected to receive funding by the end of 2004. Romania also
selected two sites for pilot projects. With the support of NATO,
an inter-ministerial committee to co-ordinate the base conversion
process should be implemented. With authorities from Skopje, the
NATO Expert Team has made first comments on a draft programme
related to disposal of non-essential functions which could be
taken over by the private sector and conversion of MOD properties. 4.
NATO’s contacts with International Organisations and NGOs
Firstly,
NATO co-operates with donors and financial institutions to find
funds to implement programmes dealing with redundant military
personnel and base conversion challenges associated with military
downsizing and defence reform. Secondly, between NATO and organisations
such as IOM and OSCE, collection and spreading of "best practices"
and international exchange of information have started to be developed. 5.
Geographical scope of NATO’s work The
process had been started with Romania and Bulgaria. Now the countries
involved are either part of the Membership Action Plan (MAP) process
such as Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and
Croatia or part of the Partnership for Peace such as Moldova or
member of the specific Tailored Co-operation NATO programme such
as Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 6.
Current situation and prospects Since
the ninth meeting of the WT III in Portoroz on 07 and 08 June
2004, progress achieved and objectives from the NATO’s perspective
and in the framework of the Stability Pact are the following: a)
Defence conversion is moving up on the agenda in SEE.
The next SEECP Defence Ministerial meeting in 2005 will probably
focus on this subject. NATO will contribute to this event and
support it strongly. b)
The idea to establish a SEE Regional Centre of Excellence
for defence conversion is on the Stability Pact and NATO's agenda.
The NATO DSED has written a draft proposal. It has been presented
for a first informal discussion to the SEEGROUP . Furthermore,
DCAF, BICC and RACVIAC among other fora have been informed. Still
a number of points need to be raised and solved. Among them let’s
mention firstly the interest and political support on the recipient
side. In other words, do we have enough homogeneity, synergy and
willingness among the countries of the region that will permit
to make a constructive joint effort? We have already informal
indications to this effect (a questionnaire to the MODs to determine
the needs or expectations of the SEE countries could be an idea
to be developed). Secondly, the decision on this issue has to
go hand in hand with a discussion on RACVIAC’s future activities.
Last but not least, this proposal could not be effectively implemented
without considering both the human and financial requirements
as well as the support of potential donor nations. c)
One of the most crucial aspects is funding and sharing
of expertise. Most of NATO Allies’ experiences
show that adjustment and conversion are not an overnight process
and problems can persist in areas for a fairly long time. Moreover,
lessons learned, backed by experience (e.g. of the NATO Expert
Team), suggest that there are likely to be greater obstacles to
successful conversion in countries in transition, such as in SEE.
These might include: unfavourable and unstable economic conditions;
fragile and weak institutional framework; greater degree of environmental
contamination; lack of industrial diversification in local areas
and high economic dependency on military sites and bases; lack
of formation and expertise, e.g. project appraisal; poor infrastructure;
budget constraints (defence conversion is just one of many competing
and pressing demands on very limited public funds). With the strong
involvement of the Stability Pact and continuing support of NATO,
work has started with international financial institutions and
main bilateral donors. Financial instruments do exist but are
not yet used in an adequate way for such activities. Expertise
from WTII and from Financial Institutions need to be shared with
WTIII’s defence conversion projects in areas such as: affordability
and sustainability of the projects; medium and long term management;
regional development; integration in the labour market, local
partnerships etc. The EU Small Business Charter could be interested
due to extensive programme for credits. EBRD is active in the
field of providing micro credits. As far as the Investment Compact
is concerned, the SME development component could be a useful
tool. The Social Cohesion Initiative (including social housing
and social protection components) is another possibility and should
be explored in a more proactive way. Last but not least, the OECD
LEED Programme could also be an opportunity to be developed. d)
With this in mind and thanks to the support of the Stability Pact,
concrete co-operation and exchange of experience have
started between key players in the field of defence conversion
such as DCAF, BICC, RACVIAC, NATO, OSCE, UNDP, etc. Still this
process should receive more impetus and deserves a real political
willingness as well as to define an efficient division of labour. e)
As far as programmes with individual countries
are concerned, the situation is the following:
- Bulgaria:
SP WT III is in touch with potential donors and NATO-DSED
to seek additional funding to accomplish the retraining programme
in Bulgaria. Concerning the conversion of military sites,
the Bulgarian NGO (Resource Centre Foundation) has presented
a draft national programme for military base conversion. Bulgaria
is now a member of NATO and has a possible role of experience
sharing with its neighbours in this field.
- With
Croatia, the NATO expert team on military
sites is expecting to participate in a first fact finding
mission early 2005 and to start working on a draft programme.
- End of
October, Albania in the context of the MAP
process has presented its Annual National Programme to NATO
Allies. The NATO Team has been sent in June 2003 and comments
to Albania have been provided on a draft programme related
to retraining of redundant militaries. So far, NATO is expecting
more visible progress in order to start the concrete implementation
of retraining.
- Like
Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
has presented its 2004-2005 Annual National Programme to NATO.
In 2004, the MOD has started to implement its Strategy for
divesting of non-essential functions, equipment and properties.
The NATO team has made first comments on a draft programme.
As far as the personnel downsizing is concerned, several drafts
have been submitted to NATO and comments have been passed
to Ministry of Defence. NATO is awaiting a new draft version.
- The project
in Moldova related to the destruction of
pesticides and chemicals is on track. Through the Collaborative
Programmes of NATO Public Diplomacy Division, contribution
will be made through capacity building activities, involving
the creation of an analytical laboratory with modern instruments
and providing training of Moldovan experts. But still funds
are crucially needed for the repackaging and centralisation
of the stockpile.
- In regards
of Serbia and Montenegro, the retraining
draft programme is excellent and it has been initiated without
external support. Comments from the NATO team will be soon
made available and a visit will be scheduled in a short term.
NATO’s work has been in co-ordination with a major UK
effort to train the personnel who will run the programme.
Additionally, NATO is working to facilitate outside funding
for a part of the programme with the Council of Europe Development
Bank. The on going restructuring of the SAM army already leads
to the closing of a number of military sites and bases. One
of the major issues concerning these assets is their ownership.
Divestment of lands, superstructures or infrastructures, which
are no longer needed, could have some economic potential.
From what we know now, and, as in most of the countries, the
values of these assets differ greatly. Some are directly sellable.
Some will need a clean up and others will need rehabilitation
before they can be sold. In still other cases, no private
buyer is likely to be found, and the property will have to
be transferred to some other authority. Two or more potential
redundant bases for conversion (perhaps one coastal site;
one city and one other) which might offer good prospects and
give some thought to potential alternative uses for evaluation
by the NATO Expert Team could be identified as pilot projects.
An official request from SAM authorities is expected.
- As part
of the NATO tailored co-operation programme, some seminars
and courses have been organised with civilians and officers
of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Oberammergau.
OSCE has taken an active part in these events and NATO DSED
was invited to give a presentation on Defence Conversion.
During the discussion it became visible that a crucial need
of expertise and financial support is needed as far as the
retraining and military sites conversion are concerned.
Frédérique
Jacquemin
NATO – DSED
Administrator in charge of defence conversion related to SP WT
III
Tel. 0032 2 707 4786
f.jacquemin@hq.nato.int |
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