FINANCIAL ASPECTS RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY – ATHENA MECHANISM –

The efforts on creating, at EU level, a functional mechanism to support the operational commitments got materialised by the establishment, in February 2004, of a new instrument. Much better known as ATHENA Mechanism, it was dedicated to the overall administration of common costs associated with military crisis management operations. This article puts forward a comprehensive picture of the main evolutions meant to lead to the development of this instrument, while analysing the implications for the operational domain, generated by augmenting the procedures for financial management of certain costs under the auspices of Common Security and Defence Policy.