To facilitate such operations, European officers in the NATO structure would be able to act under command arrangements making them responsible to the WEU, when appropriate.

Following the Berlin decisions, it was decided that the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, a senior European commander, and other European officers in the NATO structure, would have dual roles enabling them to act as both NATO and when required, as WEU commanders. Without duplicating resources and personnel, this would permit the Western European Union countries to use the NATO command structure in order to organise and conduct military operations to be undertaken primarily under European auspices. The measures agreed upon at Berlin were designed to help to adapt NATO to its new tasks, to respond to calls for more effective sharing of international security burdens, and to create a more cohesive European role in the Alliance. They signalled the development of a more flexible and dynamic military structure, as well as the commitment of the United States, Canada and the European Allies to ensuring that NATO can respond to today’s security needs. They also reflected consensus on the need to create greater European cohesion in the field of defence and security.


THE DEFENCE CAPABILITIES INITIATIVE


The aim of NATO’s Defence Capabilities Initiative or DCI is to ensure that the Alliance can meet the security challenges of the 21st century and is prepared to deal effectively with crises like that in Kosovo, as well as maintaining the ability to fulfil its fundamental responsibilities for the defence of its member countries. In the words of Secretary General Lord Robertson: “The Defence Capabilities Initiative is designed to ensure that all Allies not only remain interoperable, but that they also improve and update their capabilities to face the new security challenges.”

Launched at the Alliance’s 50th anniversary Washington Summit in April 1999, DCI covers almost all areas of military capability. This includes the mobility of forces; their logistical support; their ability to protect themselves and engage an adversary; and the command and control and information systems they use in order to ensure that, when necessary, they can deploy rapidly and efficiently to the locations where they may be needed to manage crises, if necessary, for extended periods.
New Security Challenges
Since the end of the Cold War, the European security environment has become more complex. Formerly, NATO’s defence planning was primarily concerned with maintaining the capabilities needed to defend against possible aggression by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. Today the most likely threats to Alliance security come from internal conflict in countries on Europe’s fringes, such as in the former Yugoslavia, or from proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.