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Defence: five priorities for new armed forces

News item | 16-09-2003

Defence is facing a major reorganisation. This is intended to produce a smaller but high-quality military establishment which will be capable of deployment in any kind of conflict, continue to complement the forces of the leading allied nations and remain financially sustainable.

The Ministry of Defence is preparing for a major round of cuts. Savings of 255 million euro will have to be made in 2004 alone. Inevitably, hard choices will have to be made. To assist in this process, the Ministry has formulated five policy priorities:

• balance between tasks and resources;
• organisational change;
• cooperation with civil authorities;
• deployability in peace operations;
• European security and defence policy.

New balance between tasks and resources
The retasking of the armed forces must be such that they will remain financially sustainable and will be capable of more flexible deployment. In addition, funds must remain available for new investment. To achieve this, running costs must be reduced, headquarters staffs slimmed down and amalgamated, and efficiency increased.

Cuts in operational units will also be unavoidable. As early as 2004, the first steps will be taken to reduce not only the number of frigates, tanks and fighter planes, but also the pay roll. By 2008, this will be cut by eleven thousand. Over the next few years, activities at a number of bases will be run down. The Defence budget provides for the closure of the Valkenburg (2004), Seedorf (2005), Soesterberg (2007) and Twenthe (2007) bases.

Organisational change
The Defence reorganisation is intended to achieve further integration between the army, airforce and navy in terms both of operational deployment and of unit support and management.

The key aims of administrative reform will be to achieve a clear separation between policymaking, implementation and inspection and to strengthen the position of the Chief of the Defence Staff. The headquarters staffs of the three armed services will be amalgamated, doing away with the need for separate commanders-in-chief, and in future new plans will be drawn up for the military as a whole.

European security and defence policy
The government will strive to strengthen European military capacity within the context of NATO and the European Union. This means that it will meet existing commitments to the EU and NATO. The Netherlands also intends to contribute to the NATO Response Force (NRF).