New year greetings to French Defense personnel, given by Michele Alliot-Marie, Minister of Defense, (excerpts)

Paris, January 6, 2005

(...)

This is an opportunity to take a look at what has been happening over the past few months and weeks (...).

Firstly, I must commend once again the outstanding work of the DGSE (Directorate-General for State Security) in getting the right conditions for the release of our two compatriots held hostage in Iraq. Here, too, the military's professionalism, courage and determination have been exemplary.

And I would also like to pay tribute to those who responded to the appeal to help in the dreadful aftermath of the tsunami in South-East Asia, not just soldiers but also civilians. 168 soldiers are already at work with an emergency services team, a gendarmerie identification unit and air-transport and sea-rescue capabilities. The "Jeanne d'Arc" and "Georges Leygues" are heading for Indonesia (1), with an operating theatre, 16 doctors, seven helicopters, an Army engineer field troop (platoon), medicines and water purification equipment, since drinking water seems to be one of the most urgent needs. I have also decided to strengthen air mobility over the area by sending, early next week, five more Puma helicopters and to increase naval capabilities by sending the "Dupleix", currently in the Gulf of Oman, which has helicopters on board, to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. (1) Finally, and because we also have to think in the long term, since our response to a crisis should not be limited to provision of immediate relief, an assessment team will be over there from the end of this week so that we can get a more accurate picture of additional field hospital and Army engineer requirements which we shall then be able to consider quickly.

All in all, over 1,000 French soldiers will be deployed in the "Beryx" operation providing support to the tsunami victims.

(...)

Our defence capabilities must allow France to make her voice heard and act anywhere in the world at any moment, sometimes alone, most often in the framework of institutions such as the European Union, NATO and always at the service of the United Nations.

France is in a position to be one of the three leading nations capable of developing such assets for maintaining international stability and defending our interests and values.

To take up this challenge, we must, over the coming year, and building on what we've done over the past few months, meet a triple imperative.

At national level, we must have sufficient appropriate equipment. We shall have to make best use of the Ministry of Defence's military and civilian human resources. We shall have to consolidate cooperation with our European partners and with our NATO allies. The availability of sufficient appropriate equipment should allow us to assess situations autonomously, then intervene in increasingly varied and complex theatres of operation.

As regards autonomous strategic assessment capabilities, it is obvious that space is one of the main challenges of tomorrow. It is becoming an increasingly key component of modern defence capabilities. We have seen this, inter alia, in recent conflicts, particularly in Kosovo and Iraq. By developing the space sector, our defence forces will have at their disposal strengthened, innovative and independent strategic intelligence and telecommunications capabilities.

The successful launch of Helios IIA last December is a first strong, encouraging sign of our determination to take up this challenge for the future. From now on, France must not only prepare for the next generation of Helios II satellite, but also define a genuine, ambitious space defence policy. Of course, we shall have to make our European partners share this conviction and ambition, since we can't act alone. This is one of the priority tasks I'm setting us for 2005.

At the same time, we must also have future-oriented equipment allowing us to respond to every challenge. Thanks to the 2003-2008 Military Estimates Act and, above all, its strict implementation thanks to President Chirac's constant support, we're increasingly better prepared to address the strategic challenges facing us.

All our armed forces are, among other things, to be equipped with the new Rafales, NH-90 and Tigre helicopters, new projection and command ships, multi-mission frigates and Felin systems (2). (...)

I think we can also do more. We must improve operational readiness still further (...); we've devoted more and more money to it, but there is clearly still scope for progress. Let's never forget that we are today giving our defence forces the assets they will need and have at their disposal in the next 15 years. All this must, inter alia, be prepared through an ambitious research and technology policy.

With a view to the development of our future capabilities, last year I launched a "demonstrator" policy [a policy of developing pre-prototype capabilities]. This must be broadened and taken further. (...)

What we do in the defence field is even more important and effective in that we work in partnerships, particularly in the European framework where real headway has been made. Bolstering this cooperation during 2005 is one of our ambitions.

Indeed, 2005 will be the year of the European Constitution which includes a number of major advances for European defence. And in fact we have anticipated a bit in this sphere (...).

What has been done at European level over the past few months, in a way, prefigures what is contained in the European Constitution. So we won't have any major changes in our practices, but a legal bolstering of our decisions and actions of the past year.

We shall thus be able to implement decisions taken in 2004 more easily and very swiftly.

The European Gendarmerie Force will be able to envisage a deployment in a theatre of operation as early as 2005. When we see the crises a good number of countries are enduring, we can say that the only choice we'll probably face when it comes to this first operation is which one to address.

The Battle Groups will be established in the first half of the year with Britain and France providing the first two on call. Here too, 2005 will probably be a year when we see the battle groups in action for the first time.

The European Union won't be the sole framework for our action, and to broaden our partnerships, in December, I launched a security and defence initiative in the western Mediterranean. It will allow our armed forces to work more effectively together in carrying out quick implementation projects focused on areas of common interest. This is possible today because (...) we are in a position to give a lead not only to our European partners but also to other partners.

No one any longer today disputes the fact that these initiatives are complementary to those of NATO. The holding in Nice in a few days' time of the first NATO Defence Ministers' meeting in France for over 20 years (...) is also a very concrete demonstration of what we have been saying now for months about the complementary nature of these initiatives and our involvement in NATO.

Since our involvement is a heavy one.

We see this today in the different theatres of operation; in both Kosovo and Afghanistan, French generals today head the forces.

This will also have to be accompanied by a genuine European-scale industrial defence policy. Since Europe must be in a position to stand up to the international competitive forces which are today developing and will develop further still over the next ten years, particularly in Asia, but not just in Asia. If we want to retain this defence industry, which is not just necessary for our sovereignty but also useful for our businesses and employment, we shall have to be in a position to do so. This requires an industry equal to the challenges, a competitive, imaginative, innovative industry capable of forging multinational partnerships. This is an opportunity the defence industry has imperatively to seize and this is why, over the past few months, I have not only taken various measures to help a number of our firms improve their competitiveness – for example, DCN (Direction des chantiers navales – leading French naval shipyard) and GIAT – but also encouraged firms to forge closer links at European level. Today EADS exists. We must encourage a similar process in both the naval and land spheres./.