Chairman of the European Union Military Committee

Chairman of the European Union Military Committee
CEUMC coat of arms
EUMC coat of arms
Incumbent General Robert Brieger since 16 May 2022
European Union Military Committee
Reports to	High Representative
Seat	Kortenberg building, Brussels, Belgium
Term length	3 years
Inaugural holder	General Gustav Hägglund
Formation	December 2000
Website	europa.eu

The chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC) is the four-star rank officer representing and presiding over the European Union's (EU) Military Committee (EUMC), composed of the chiefs of defence (CHODs) of the EU member states. The chairman is selected by the chiefs of defence of the member states and appointed by the members of the Council of the European Union for a three-year term.

Task

The chairman has the following tasks:

• Acting as the spokesperson for the EUMC
• Participating in Political and Security Committee meetings as appropriate
• Acting as the military adviser to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR) who heads the EEAS European External Action Service
• Representing the primary point of contact with the Operation Commanders of the EU's military operations
• Attending Council meetings with defence and security implications

The relationship between the High Representative, the Military Staff and Military Committee as of November 2017: Colour key:
  High Representative (a Vice-President of the Commission)
  Military Committee (EUMC; a Council body)
  Military Staff (EUMS; a Directorate-General of the External Action Service)

High Representative

Chairman EUMC

Working Group

Working Group/Headline Goal Task Force

Director General EUMS/ Director MPCC

Legal advisor

Deputy Director General

Horizontal Coordination

Assistant Chief of Staff for Synchronisation

EU cell at SHAPE

EU Liaison at the UN in NY

Assistant Chief of Staff for External Relations

NATO Permanent Liaison Team

Concepts & Capabilities Directorate

Intelligence Directorate

Operations Directorate

Logistics Directorate

Communications & Information Systems Directorate

Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) Chief of Staff Working Group Current Operations

Role in command and control of missions

Further information: Command and control structure of the European Union

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.

List of holders

No.	Portrait	Chairman	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	State	Ref.
1		Hägglund, GustavGeneral Gustav Hägglund (born 1938)	3 June 2001	9 April 2004	2 years, 311 days	Finnish Army	Finland
2		Moschini, Rolando MoscaGeneral Rolando Mosca Moschini (born 1939)	9 April 2004	6 November 2006	2 years, 211 days	Italian Army	Italy	–
3		Bentégeat, HenriGeneral Henri Bentégeat (born 1946)	6 November 2006	6 November 2009	3 years, 0 days	French Army	France	–
4		Syrén, HåkanGeneral Håkan Syrén (born 1952)	6 November 2009	6 November 2012	3 years, 0 days	Swedish Amphibious Corps	Sweden	–
5		de Rousiers, PatrickGeneral Patrick de Rousiers (born 1955)	6 November 2012	6 November 2015	3 years, 0 days	French Air and Space Force	France
6		Kostarakos, MichailGeneral Michail Kostarakos (1956–2023)	6 November 2015	6 November 2018	3 years, 0 days	Hellenic Army	Greece
7		Graziano, ClaudioGeneral Claudio Graziano (1953–2024)	6 November 2018	1 June 2022	3 years, 207 days	Italian Army	Italy
8		Brieger, RobertGeneral Robert Brieger (born 1956)	16 May 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 164 days	Austrian Land Forces	Austria

See also

• High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
• Director General of the European Union Military Staff
• Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
• Supreme Allied Commander Europe

External links

• Official website