Between the EU Member States on EU Status of Forces
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM FOR THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES ON EU STATUS OF FORCES
Command Paper number : Cm 7572 [PDF 121k, new window]
Title of the Treaty
1. Agreement between the Member States of the European Union concerning the status of military and civilian staff seconded to the institutions of the European Union, of the headquarters and forces which may be made available to the European Union in the context of the preparation and execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the Treaty on European Union, including exercises, and of the military and civilian staff of the Member States put at the disposal of the European Union to act in this context (EU SOFA).
2. The EU agreement on the Status of Forces (EU SOFA) concerns the legal status of military and civilian personnel seconded to the Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS). It also covers national headquarters and forces that may be used by the EU during an EU military or civilian exercise within the territory of the
3. The Agreement sets out the legal provisions that will enable military and civilian personnel to carry out their duties. The Agreement is divided into three parts to deal with the different categories of people to which it applies:
- Part I sets out provisions that apply to all military and civilian staff covered by the EUSOFA. It includes the definition of military and civilian staff for the purposes of this Agreement. It sets out the rights of civilian and military staff to wear uniform, drive using licences issued by their own country and receive medical care. It also makes clear the obligation on personnel covered by this Agreement to respect the laws of their host state and to act in a way consistent with their position.
- Part II covers the military and civilian staff seconded to the EU institutions - principally the EUMS. Provisions of this part give such military and civilian staff, where authorised by their orders and subject to the national regulations of the receiving State, the right to possess and carry arms. Immunities from legal process enjoyed by these staff in respect of acts undertaken in the course of their official functions are also set out in this part.
- Part III covers headquarters and forces and the personnel within them. This sets out the rights of forces to secure their premises; inviolability of documents of headquarters; the arrangements for taxation; jurisdiction over military and civilian personnel; and arrangements for liabilities and claims.
- The final provisions of the Agreement are contained in Part IV, including the procedures for ratification and entry into force. Part IV also regulates which SOFA applies in a specific situation where there is ambiguity, for example, where forces on an EU operation make use of NATO assets and capabilities. Insofar as military and civilian staff at HQ and forces are concerned, the EU SOFA will only apply where those staff are not regulated by another agreement governing their status. This means that the NATO SOFA will apply wherever possible.
4. The Agreement was signed by all 15 EU Member States on 17 November 2003. On enlargement of the
5. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has lead responsibility for the European Security and Defence Policy. The Secretary of State for Defence has responsibility for military aspects and for the application of military law. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has responsibility for the tax exemption aspects. The Home Secretary has responsibility for the firearms and immigration aspects. The Home Office and the Department for International Development would also be involved for any crisis response operation involving military and civilian personnel under the EU SOFA within the territory of the EU.
Policy Considerations
General
6. The EU Status of Forces Agreement is important as it will establish the status of foreign military and civilian personnel participating in ESDP activities. It will allow members of the armed forces of other EU Member States to be deployed on
7. The close consistency between the EU SOFA and the NATO SOFA means that the status of our forces should be the same whether an operation/exercise is led by NATO or by the EU.
Financial
8. There are no immediate financial implications of this Agreement. If the
Reservations and Declarations
9. None.
Implementation
10. The UK
Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
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Who signs Treaties?
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldeucom/184/184.pdf
Background to the Treaty
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmdfence/107/107.pdf
1. The UK/US Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty was signed by former Prime Minister Blair and President Bush in June 2007 and published on 24 September 2007.1 The Treaty establishes a framework for defence trade cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
2. In the UK, treaties are ratified by the Government under the Royal Prerogative, without requirement for parliamentary approval; but, by Government undertaking ("the Ponsonby rule"), treaties are laid before Parliament for 21 sitting days before ratification, to enable Parliament to consider and, if necessary, to comment on them. At our request, the Government agreed to extend the period available to Parliament to scrutinise this Treaty until 12 December 2007.
3. Since the 1990s, both Democrat and Republican Administrations have sought to reform the US arms export control system. The US Arms Export Control Act gives authority to the President to make regulations regarding the export and import of defence articles and services. The items so designated constitute the US Munitions List. The regulations are the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which cover the control of arms exports, the registration of manufacturers and exporters and the administrative procedures for obtaining licences to export.
Considered in Grand Committee
Moved By Lord Bach
That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) (Amendment) Order 2009.
Relevant document:30th report, Session 2007—08, from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): With this order, I shall also speak to the subsequent two draft orders, which were laid before the House on 23 October 2008 together with a joint Explanatory Memorandum. These three orders collectively give effect to certain provisions of three status of forces agreements (SOFAs) to which the United Kingdom is a party. They are the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Status of Forces Agreement (NATO SOFA), the NATO Partnership for Peace Status of Forces Agreement (PfP SOFA) and the European Union Status of Forces Agreement (EU SOFA).
What is a status of forces agreement? SOFAs establish the status of military and civilian personnel originating from one country when they are located in the territory of another country. They also provide for the status of military headquarters established in other countries. The status, privileges and immunities conferred on military and civilian personnel by the draft orders are no greater in extent than those required by the relevant SOFA, or the established custom and practice, to enable either NATO or the EU and specified individuals connected with those organisations to function effectively.
The NATO SOFA effectively has primacy. The PfP SOFA extends the NATO SOFA to all the states that have accepted the invitation to participate in the Partnership for Peace. The EU SOFA comes into force
27 Jan 2009 : Column GC62
only once it has been ratified by all the EU member states and only applies in so far as the status of their forces is not regulated by the NATO or PfP SOFA.
What do the orders do? The first order, the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) (Amendment) Order 2009, amends the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) Order 1999 to include Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Ireland, Montenegro, Serbia and Tajikistan in the list of visiting forces countries. It also updates the list of headquarters to which the 1999 order applies. For example, the NATO Headquarters for Allied Naval Forces North Western Europe, which is known as NAVNORTHWEST, has been renamed as the Maritime Component Command Headquarters Northwood, or CC-MAR HQ Northwood. The effect of this order is to ensure that various laws apply to visiting forces and international headquarters in the same way as they apply to our domestic Armed Forces.
The second order, the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations (Designation and Privileges) (Amendment) Order 2009, provides for the amendment of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations (Designation and Privileges) Order 1965. It updates the list of headquarters to which the 1965 order applies. The 1965 order provides for the inviolability of the official archives of international headquarters that have a presence in the United Kingdom. In respect of some of those headquarters, the 1965 order also confers legal capacity and provides for immunity from legal process that involves the seizure of any funds or property.
The third order, the European Union Military Staff (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2009, confers privileges and immunities on the European Union and its military staff, principally that staff shall enjoy immunity from suit and legal process in respect of things done or omitted to be done in the course of the performance of official duties. It also provides that the official archives of the EU military staff and the EU are inviolable, in the same way that the archives of diplomatic missions are inviolable under the Vienna convention of 1961.
Once these orders have been made, Her Majesty’s Government will notify the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union under Article 19(2) that they have completed their constitutional procedures for the ratification of the EU SOFA. There are no further notification requirements in respect of the NATO and PfP SOFAs. The orders simply bring the list of countries and headquarters up to date.
The provisions of these orders extend to the United Kingdom. In their extent to Scotland they apply only so far as they relate to a reserved matter within the meaning of Section 29(2)(b) of the Scotland Act 1998.
These orders will allow the United Kingdom to comply with its international obligations in giving full effect to the privileges and immunities that were agreed in the SOFA agreements and will allow the UK to continue to develop the strong partnership that it has with these organisations.
The Minister for the Armed Forces and the Minister from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were both satisfied that these orders are compatible with
the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. They are important orders, which I hope will receive the support of noble Lords. I beg to move.
Lord Luke: I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Bach, back to defence issues, which I well remember him dealing with in the past. The issues raised by the orders have been covered in detail in the other place by my honourable friend the MP for Westbury, who set out our reservations about the European Union Military Staff (Immunities and Privileges) Order. I share his concerns but will not detain your Lordships by repeating them this afternoon. The other two orders are uncontroversial.
Lord Lee of Trafford: As far as we are concerned, these orders are updating, functional, practical and necessary. We are happy to support them.
Lord Bach: Apart from thanking both noble Lords for their contributions and, in particular, the noble Lord, Lord Luke, for his kind remarks, I commend the orders to the Committee. Motion agreed.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldselect/ldeucom/184/184.pdf
Background to the Treaty
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmdfence/107/107.pdf
1. The UK/US Defence Trade Cooperation Treaty was signed by former Prime Minister Blair and President Bush in June 2007 and published on 24 September 2007.1 The Treaty establishes a framework for defence trade cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
2. In the UK, treaties are ratified by the Government under the Royal Prerogative, without requirement for parliamentary approval; but, by Government undertaking ("the Ponsonby rule"), treaties are laid before Parliament for 21 sitting days before ratification, to enable Parliament to consider and, if necessary, to comment on them. At our request, the Government agreed to extend the period available to Parliament to scrutinise this Treaty until 12 December 2007.
3. Since the 1990s, both Democrat and Republican Administrations have sought to reform the US arms export control system. The US Arms Export Control Act gives authority to the President to make regulations regarding the export and import of defence articles and services. The items so designated constitute the US Munitions List. The regulations are the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which cover the control of arms exports, the registration of manufacturers and exporters and the administrative procedures for obtaining licences to export.
Considered in Grand Committee
Moved By Lord Bach
That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) (Amendment) Order 2009.
Relevant document:30th report, Session 2007—08, from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): With this order, I shall also speak to the subsequent two draft orders, which were laid before the House on 23 October 2008 together with a joint Explanatory Memorandum. These three orders collectively give effect to certain provisions of three status of forces agreements (SOFAs) to which the United Kingdom is a party. They are the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Status of Forces Agreement (NATO SOFA), the NATO Partnership for Peace Status of Forces Agreement (PfP SOFA) and the European Union Status of Forces Agreement (EU SOFA).
What is a status of forces agreement? SOFAs establish the status of military and civilian personnel originating from one country when they are located in the territory of another country. They also provide for the status of military headquarters established in other countries. The status, privileges and immunities conferred on military and civilian personnel by the draft orders are no greater in extent than those required by the relevant SOFA, or the established custom and practice, to enable either NATO or the EU and specified individuals connected with those organisations to function effectively.
The NATO SOFA effectively has primacy. The PfP SOFA extends the NATO SOFA to all the states that have accepted the invitation to participate in the Partnership for Peace. The EU SOFA comes into force
27 Jan 2009 : Column GC62
only once it has been ratified by all the EU member states and only applies in so far as the status of their forces is not regulated by the NATO or PfP SOFA.
What do the orders do? The first order, the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) (Amendment) Order 2009, amends the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) Order 1999 to include Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Ireland, Montenegro, Serbia and Tajikistan in the list of visiting forces countries. It also updates the list of headquarters to which the 1999 order applies. For example, the NATO Headquarters for Allied Naval Forces North Western Europe, which is known as NAVNORTHWEST, has been renamed as the Maritime Component Command Headquarters Northwood, or CC-MAR HQ Northwood. The effect of this order is to ensure that various laws apply to visiting forces and international headquarters in the same way as they apply to our domestic Armed Forces.
The second order, the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations (Designation and Privileges) (Amendment) Order 2009, provides for the amendment of the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations (Designation and Privileges) Order 1965. It updates the list of headquarters to which the 1965 order applies. The 1965 order provides for the inviolability of the official archives of international headquarters that have a presence in the United Kingdom. In respect of some of those headquarters, the 1965 order also confers legal capacity and provides for immunity from legal process that involves the seizure of any funds or property.
The third order, the European Union Military Staff (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2009, confers privileges and immunities on the European Union and its military staff, principally that staff shall enjoy immunity from suit and legal process in respect of things done or omitted to be done in the course of the performance of official duties. It also provides that the official archives of the EU military staff and the EU are inviolable, in the same way that the archives of diplomatic missions are inviolable under the Vienna convention of 1961.
Once these orders have been made, Her Majesty’s Government will notify the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union under Article 19(2) that they have completed their constitutional procedures for the ratification of the EU SOFA. There are no further notification requirements in respect of the NATO and PfP SOFAs. The orders simply bring the list of countries and headquarters up to date.
The provisions of these orders extend to the United Kingdom. In their extent to Scotland they apply only so far as they relate to a reserved matter within the meaning of Section 29(2)(b) of the Scotland Act 1998.
These orders will allow the United Kingdom to comply with its international obligations in giving full effect to the privileges and immunities that were agreed in the SOFA agreements and will allow the UK to continue to develop the strong partnership that it has with these organisations.
The Minister for the Armed Forces and the Minister from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office were both satisfied that these orders are compatible with
the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. They are important orders, which I hope will receive the support of noble Lords. I beg to move.
Lord Luke: I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Bach, back to defence issues, which I well remember him dealing with in the past. The issues raised by the orders have been covered in detail in the other place by my honourable friend the MP for Westbury, who set out our reservations about the European Union Military Staff (Immunities and Privileges) Order. I share his concerns but will not detain your Lordships by repeating them this afternoon. The other two orders are uncontroversial.
Lord Lee of Trafford: As far as we are concerned, these orders are updating, functional, practical and necessary. We are happy to support them.
Lord Bach: Apart from thanking both noble Lords for their contributions and, in particular, the noble Lord, Lord Luke, for his kind remarks, I commend the orders to the Committee. Motion agreed.
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