Morning light spilled over the ochre walls of Segovia as EU military gathered beneath the shadow of the Alcázar. Notebooks, tablets, and the quiet hum of many languages created a common rhythm. This was the Main Planning Conference (MPC) for MILEX26, and its purpose was deceptively simple: to make sense of complexity together.

Taking place in Hungary with 13 member states participating, MILEX indicates EU’s growing security role.

The annual EU military exercise is growing in scope year-to-year with a growing remit beginning in planning headquarters.

On December 4 th, General Robert Brieger visited EU’s second Live Military Exercise (MILEX24) in Bergen, Germany.

The Crisis Management Military Exercise 24 (MILEX 24) concluded at the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) in Brussels on Friday 03 May.

Part 1 of the EUs Crisis Management Military Exercise 2024 (MILEX 24) has entered its final week. Over the past 17 days military personnel from the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) in Brussels, together with personnel from EUROCORPS in Strasbourg, have been exercising in order to test and validate the EUs procedures in response to external crisis and conflicts.

The Chair of the European Union Military Committee and the Chair of the Political and Security Committee visit MILEX 24.

Milex 24 - the European Union's military exercise to improve crisis management and operational deployment capacity, kicked off today in Brussels.

The EU is planning to increase its capacity as a security provider with Milex 24.

A new chapter has commenced on how the European Union conducts Crisis Response Exercises. MILEX 23, the EU Crisis Management Military Exercise 2023 demonstrated how the EU is increasing its capacity as a security provider.

The EU’s Crisis Management Military Exercise - MILEX 23 has entered its second week at the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) Operations Headquarters (OHQ) in Brussels.

Madrid - The EU Military Committee, headed by its Chairman (CEUMC), Gen. Robert Brieger, travelled to Madrid for an informal gathering under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council.

The EU’s first live exercise is important to build capacity to respond to crises under the Strategic Compass.

In a key milestone towards elevating its crisis management capabilities, the European Union is embarking on a historic journey in October 2023, with the realization the EU's first Live Exercise in Spain within the framework of MILEX 23. This pioneering event, catalysed by the guiding principles of the Strategic Compass, marks an extraordinary leap forward in reinforcing the EU's posture. As the global landscape evolves with unprecedented challenges, the EU need to boost its readiness and foster interoperability to be able to quickly react to crises outside the Union.

The role of CONCAP is to be responsible for EUMS concepts, doctrine, capability planning and capability development including crisis management exercises, training, analysis and lessons learned, and for cooperation with the European Defence Agency. Vis à Vis EUMS planning, to ensure coherency between the EU military concepts and the crisis management procedures. It is currently commanded by Major General Georgios Bikakis of the Greek Armed Forces and is divided into three separate branches – Concepts, Force Capability and Exercises, Training and Analysis. As the EU's Rapid EU Military Rapid Response Concept was recently approved, Lt Col Peter Norton takes a look at the EUMS's Concepts and Capabilities Directorate.

The Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) is the military-strategic Headquarters in Brussels, currently responsible for the operational planning and conducting for EU’s non-executive military CSDP Training Missions (EUTMs) as part of the EU’s Integrated Approach in Mali, Somalia, Central Africa Republic, Mozambique and the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM UA). During its first five years, the MPCC has validated its place as a permanent military command and control capability at the military-strategic level. MPCC has provided added value to the EU military crisis management as part of a wider effort to enhance EU's role as a civilian-military security provider. The MPCC enhances the capacity of the EU to react faster and more efficiently to a conflict or crisis, and improve the coordination of the military with other Common Security and Defence Policy and EU actors.

MILEX 22 is a CSDP planning exercise to enhance EU military capacity to respond to a crisis situation. The Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) assumed the responsibility of an Operational Headquarters (OHQ) at the military strategic level able to conduct one executive EU CSDP operation up to EU Battle Group size. The exercise also included an ES Force HQ (FHQ) in Huesca.

The EU is facing new challenges, unpredictable threats and greater uncertainty. The complex and contested security environment in which the EU finds itself necessitates an unprecedented level of coordination and cooperation, not only within the EU institutes but also between Member States. This coordination and cooperation is reinforced through the evolution of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) structures such as the European Peace Facility, EU's Rapid Deployment Capacity and of course, the Strategic Compass.

Since its establishment in 2013, the Multinational Joint Headquarters Ulm has since made considerable contributions to the EU’s CSDP. In this article, and on the 20 year anniversary of the EUMS, Commander of the Multinational Joint Headquarters Ulm and the Joint Support and Enabling Command, Lieutenant General Jürgen Knappe, discusses the Command's intent to further expand its cooperation with the EU Military Staff and the Military Planning and Conduct Capability. This will be on the basis of its realigned mission, using its valuable EU and NATO expertise gained in Ulm, and its unique functional infrastructure nowhere else to be found in the Bundeswehr.