European Air Transport Command
| European Air Transport Command | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms
|
|
| Active | since 1 July 2010 (predecessor founded September 2001) |
| Country |
Belgium France Germany Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Spain |
| Type | Military Air Transport |
| Role | multinational command center |
| Size | 160–200 |
| Part of | subordinate to Multinational Air Transport Committee |
| Garrison/HQ | Eindhoven Airbase |
| Motto(s) | Integrated, Innovative, Efficient |
| Engagements |
2011 military intervention in Libya 2012 intervention in Mali |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Major General Christian Badia (Germany) |
The European Air Transport Command (EATC) is the command centre that exercises the operational control of the majority of the aerial refueling capabilities and military transport fleets of a consortium of seven Western European countries. As of January 2015, the combined fleet under the authority of the EATC represents 75% of the European air transport capacity. Located at Eindhoven Airbase in the Netherlands, the command also bears a limited responsibility for exercises, aircrew training and the harmonisation of relevant national air transport regulations.
The command was established in 2010 with a view to provide a more efficient management of the participating nations' assets and resources in this field.
In 1999 France and Germany started a politico-military initiative to “prepare the establishment of a European Air Transport Command”. The conclusions from the meeting of the European Council in Helsinki the same year, mentions the expressed will of the Union's member states to develop collective coals for rapid capability, including in the area of strategic transport. This was to be achieved voluntarily, to better co-ordinate national and international efforts for the carrying-out of the full range of so-called Petersberg tasks.
A study conducted by the European Air Group (EAG) in 2000 came to the conclusion, that it would be beneficial to co-ordinate the international military airlift requirements and the means to meet them between the EAG nations to exploit all possible synergies. It finally recommended to establish a permanent co-ordination element managing the airlift co-ordination needs of nations in an evolutionary approach by smoothly transferring competencies from existing national structures. This multinational management structure should be developed step by step from purely co-ordination to a combined entity with full command authority.
The member states of the EAG decided in June 2001 to establish the European Airlift Coordination Cell (EACC) as a first step on this way with the objective to improve the efficiency by identifying spare military airlift capacities and sharing this information with interested nations as offer for additional opportunities. The idea was to improve the utilisation of European military air transport and aerial refueling capabilities and hereby gaining synergetic effects. This entity proved its success as the savings exceeded the operating costs of this cell in the first year.
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