When EU Secretary-General/High Representative Javier Solana recently reflected on the development of European Security and Defence Policy, doctrine, operations and capabilities were singled out as areas where remarkable progress had been made.⁽¹⁾ Also, bearing in mind the EU’s aspirations to ‘develop a strategic culture that fosters early, rapid and, when necessary, robust intervention’,⁽²⁾ the importance as well as the achievements of having a common EU approach on how to plan and conduct operations appears to be pivotal. Still, doctrine appears to be a difficult subject to grasp in the EU context. Arguably, it is not as visible as operations and capabilities. Indeed, some commentators are not convinced that the EU has, or even should have, a military doctrine.⁽³⁾ Moreover, it has been argued that EU doctrine development deviates from the traditional approach.⁽⁴⁾ This article examines the development of EU military doctrine against a widely accepted model for team performance. The model states that performance is conditioned by identified stages of team maturity. It is argued that the use of this model will assist in explaining the evolution of EU military doctrine and its contributions.

Framing Military Doctrine

The term ‘doctrine’ stems from the Latin doctrina (teaching, learning, instruction), and in the military domain it is generally associated with how forces intend to operate to meet their objectives.⁽⁵⁾ Within the EU, there is no clear delineation between doctrine, concepts, guidelines and procedures. This article will use the term doctrine to denote the collective body of military guidance that is intended to influence the planning and conduct of EU-led military operations.

EU military doctrine is perhaps best understood by examining the command and control (C2) arrangements. The EU military chain of command has three distinct levels, albeit established on a case-by-case basis for each operation. The Operation Commander (OpCdr), supported by a headquarters (OHQ), is responsible for the overall military conduct of an operation. The OpCdr remains at the military-strategic level. The Force Commander (FCdr), and the associated FHQ, deploys in theatre and is responsible under the OpCdr for executing the operation at the operational level. EU component commanders (CC) are designated on the tactical level. Below the tactical level, national and multinational forces are subordinate to component commanders. At the political and strategic level, the Military Committee (EUMC) and Military Staff (EUMS) assist the Political and Security Committee (PSC) with exercising political control and strategic direction. When doctrine is developed it is designed to support the planning and conduct of missions and operations at these levels.