Military Erasmus
The European military officers' educational institutes, and the Member States at a more diplomatic level, have had a long experience and tradition of exchanges, to this end.
[7] Relying on contributions and support from the Member States, their institutes and the European Security and Defence College's Secretariat, the Implementation Group very quickly made substantial progress on various aspects of the initiative.
[8] Young officers in training are the future military elites, who will have to work ever more closely together for the realisation and consolidation of the Common Security and Defence Policy, regardless of their nationality or their armed forces.
The Conclusions of the Council of the European Union, which founded the European initiative for the exchange of young officers, inspired by Erasmus, have translated these objectives into concrete measures, such as: • Measures aimed at increasing the number of exchanges, such as the generalisation of the Bologna process, mutual recognition of the outcomes of exchanges in professional training, greater use of Erasmus mobility for students and personnel, opening of national educational opportunities to young European officers; • Measures aimed at teaching/learning about Europe and its defence, such as the creation of a common module on the Common Security and Defence Policy, promotion of the learning of several foreign languages.
A detailed stocktaking of the European officers' initial training has been completed, which assists the institutes concerned in identifying partners with whom they organise exchanges.
[9] A forum and a newsletter,[10] edited by the European Security and Defence College Secretariat, have also been set up for the institutes to communicate regarding supply and demand of exchanges.
