The Berlin Plus agreement is the short title of a comprehensive set of agreements reached on 16 December 2002 between NATO and the EU. [1] These agreements were based on the conclusions of the 1999 NATO summit in Washington, sometimes referred to as the CJTF mechanism[2] and allowed the EU to use some of NATO`s military assets in its own peacekeeping operations. The agreements were convened after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin in 1996, when they declared their readiness to “facilitate the use of separable but unrepargated military capabilities in Western European Union operations”. At its 1999 summit in Washington, which was based on the Berlin decision, NATO acknowledged “the determination of the European Union to have an autonomous capacity for action” and effectively extended the agreements to the EU. Hence the “plus.” On behalf of the EU, Mr Solana wrote to NATO Secretary General George Robertson on 17 March 2003, confirming that the work between the two organisations on Berlin Plus had been completed. Since the Berlin Plus agreement in 2003, circumstances have changed considerably. But the echoes of the old debates have recently wieder-showing that the friction which Berlin Plus responded yet exists. The US calls for increased EU defence spending are more ambitious, but their response to proposals for EU military effectiveness and autonomy reflects the suspicions of the past. The EU has taken the opportunity to become a serious player in defence and security, but its ambitions remain, as always, limited by the lack of significant EU capabilities, which will soon be strengthened by Brexit. But there`s something missing.

The most practical and long-term framework for cooperation between the EU and NATO, called Berlin Plus, seems to have been neglected. Under Berlin Plus, agreed in 2003, the EU can ask NATO to make its capabilites and capabilities available to the EU for an EU-led and led operation. Since the latest public documents from NATO or the EU make no reference to Berlin Plus, this form of cooperation seems to have been sidelined in favour of apparently more current issues. As a result, the list of NATO and EU activities does not address the challenge of NATO and EU military cooperation in a future crisis that concerned both interests. The Berlin Plus Agreement consists of seven main parties:[1][3] This comprehensive framework for NATO-EU relations was concluded on 17 March 2003 by the exchange of letters between High Representative Javier Solana and Lord Robertson, then NATO Secretary General. [3] Although operationally practical and beneficial to both sides, any future Berlin Plus operation faces political obstacles, both within NATO and within the EU. First, Berlin Plus was created at a time when the EU lacked sufficient resources and capacity to manage the crisis. NATO support was deemed necessary at the time. With the exception of major transactions, it is discretionary. The EU currently has six ongoing military missions/operations and ten civilian missions of more than 4,000 people.