Director General of the European Union Military Staff

The Director General of the European Union Military Staff (DGEUMS) is the head of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) who also serves as Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (Dir MPCC). This position, which was established in 2001, is held by a three-star general. The current holder is lieutenant general Michiel van der Laan, occupying the position since June 2023.

Task

The Director General is responsible for the EUMS' work in providing strategic advice to the High Representative (HR), reporting to the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) - representing member states' Chiefs of Defence - and performing "early warning", situation assessment and strategic planning.

Since 2017 the DGEUMS has served as Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), and assumes the function of the single commander for all non-executive military missions of the European Union (EU). The DGEUMS exercises command and control over the current three training Missions and other possible future operations. Presently the MPCC may only run non-executive operations. By the end of 2020 the MPCC will be capable of running executive operations of up to 2,500 troops, i.e. the size of one battle group.

Relation with the rest of the Military Staff, the High Representative and Military Committee

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)

Role in the command and control structure

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

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.