Andre Erich Denk. 

La EUMS es la fuente de expertos militares dentro del Servicio Europeo de Acción Exterior. Tiene su sede en Bruselas (Bélgica).

EUMS provides military experts within to the European -External Action Service. It is based in Brussels (Belgium).

Andre At national level, the coordination, and cooperation between Civilian and Military authorities in a crisis situation has proven to be indispensable. This cooperation could be either structural, as part of contingency plans, or ad-hoc.

In a crisis -as given with COVID-19- the options of a stronger cooperation and collaboration are well acknowledged and appreciated on both sides.

However, making use of this connection requires political will and especially knowledge and training how to use those capabilities and resources in the most effective way.

The alignment and cooperation within the national systems could set a good example, so that those positive experiences and lessons learnt can then be promoted also to the EU level.

The model of the ad hoc EEAS/EUMS TF (Task Force), for COVID-19 should be preserved and further developed for future related or similar emergencies, with a stronger involvement of the Commission to ensure proper coordination with the primary European disaster response authority (i.e., Emergency Response Coordination Centre, ERCC).

Its future tasks might include providing support to the coordination of military assets and capabilities in assisting civilian authorities.

Such a TF could also continue to play a facilitator role towards the EU political and military leadership (e.g., FAC Defence, PSC, and EUMC).

Military support to Civilian authorities in disaster situations is the last resort.

However, real life proves that it is indispensable, and we need to be prepared on national, bilateral and EU level.