Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management

The Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management, or CIVCOM, is an advisory body within the European Union dealing with civilian aspects of crisis management. The activities of the CIVCOM form part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the EU, and the civilian side of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The CIVCOM is composed of representatives of the EU member states.

The activities of CIVCOM for civilian CSDP tasks occur in parallel to the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) for military CDP tasks. Both EUMC and CIVCOM receive directions from, and report to the Political and Security Committee (PSC).

The decision to establish CIVCOM was taken in 2000 by the Council of the European Union.

Structure

The EU command and control (C2) structure is directed by political bodies composed of member states' representatives, and generally requires unanimous decisions. As of April 2019:

Liaison:       Advice and recommendations       Support and monitoring       Preparatory work     

Political strategic level:[5]

ISS

EUCO Pres. (EUCO)

Chain of command

Coordination/support

SatCen

CIVCOM

HR/VP (FAC)

INTCEN

HR/VP (PMG)

HR/VP (PSC)[6]

CEUMC (EUMC)

CMPD

DGEUMS[3] (EUMS)

Military/civilian strategic level:

Dir MPCC[3] (MPCC)

JSCC

Civ OpCdr CPCC[1]

Operational level:

MFCdr[4] (MFHQ)

HoM[1]

Tactical level:

CC[2] Land

CC[2] Air

CC[2] Mar

Other CCs[2]

Forces

Forces

Forces

Forces

¹ In the event of a CSDP Civilian Mission also being in the field, the relations with the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) and its Civilian Operation Commander (Civ OpCdr), as well as the subordinate Head of Mission (HoM), are coordinated as shown.

² Other Component Commanders (CCs) and service branches which may be established.

³ The MPCC is part of the EUMS and Dir MPCC is double-hatted as DGEUMS. Unless the MPCC is used as Operation Headquarters (OHQ), either a national OHQ offered by member states or the NATO Command Structure (NCS) would serve this purpose. In the latter instance, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), rather than Dir MPCC, would serve as Operation Commander (OpCdr).

⁴ Unless the MPCC is used as Operation Headquarters (OHQ), the MFCdr would be known as a Force Commander (FCdr), and direct a Force Headquarters (FHQ) rather than a MFHQ. Whereas the MFHQ would act both on the operational and tactical level, the FHQ would act purely on the operational level.

⁵ The political strategic level is not part of the C2 structure per se, but represents the political bodies, with associated support facilities, that determine the missions' general direction. The Council determines the role of the High Representative (HR/VP), who serves as Vice-President of the European Commission, attends European Council meetings, chairs the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) and may chair the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in times of crisis. The HR/VP proposes and implements CSDP decisions.

⁶ Same composition as Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) II, which also prepares for the CSDP-related work of the FAC.

Operations beyond the EU

CIVCOM conducts activities beyond the EU. For instance, in June 2024 CIVCOM members participated in a joint patrol with EUMA in Armenia.

External links

• PhD Thesis on Civilian ESDP - EU Civilian crisis management (University of Geneva, 2008, 441 p. in French), a comprehensive analysis of EU Civilian crisis management (Civilian ESDP)

• PhD Thesis on Civilian ESDP - EU Civilian crisis management (University of Geneva, 2008, 441 p. in French)