Strategic Compass

The Strategic Compass is a military plan launched by the European Union (EU) in November 2021. The plan was launched to strengthen EU militarily and to reduce the reliance on US military assets.

What does Strategic Compass say?

The following are the key points of Strategic Compass:

• The European Union should develop joint “Rapid Development Capacity” made of sea, land and air by 2025.
• The members of the European Union should begin regular military exercise and naval drills from 2023.
• The members should agree on scenarios where the Rapid Reaction Force might be used.
• The European Union should start running all its training missions, exercises and smaller missions from a single headquarters by 2025. By 2030, the European Union headquarters should run all the missions.
• The Joint Cyber Unit should be made fully operational to prevent cyber-attacks.
• The bloc will develop new battle tanks and future combat air systems within a date set in the agreement to be signed in March 2022.
• The critical capability gaps are to be filled by 2025 to reduce the reliance on the US. This includes space communication technologies, long range military air transport and intelligence capacity.
• To counter China’s rise, the European Union will increase its coordination in the Indo – Pacific region and also in patrols and maritime exercises.

What are the four main processes of Strategic Compass?

The 4 main processes are Crisis Management, Resilience, Capability Development and Partnerships. The tasking of Strategic Compass began in 2020. The threat analysis of launching Strategic Compass was completed in November 2020. Workshops and dialogues to frame the plan were held in 2021. It was developed in 2021. It is to be launched in 2022. It basically aims to cement the foundation of shared vision for defence among the European Union member states.

What is the focus of processes?

• Crisis Management: Scenarios for military and civilian missions, geographical priorities, Petersberg tasks, Headline goals revision, institutional capacity, force generation, civilian CSDSP Compact, European Peace Facility.
• Resilience: Mutual assistance, military mobility, supply chain security, non – traditional threats, global commons.
• Capability Development: PESCO, European Defence Fund, Technological sovereignty, Space, maritime and cyber capabilities.
• Partnerships: Indo – Pacific (ASEAN, bilateral and QUAD), Eastern Partnerships, Africa Union, EU – NATO, EU – UN, EU – US.