16. Reiterates its call for the systematic harmonisation of military requirements and for a harmonised EU defence planning and acquisition process, matching up to the Union’s level of ambition and coordinated with the NATO Defence Planning Process; taking into account the increased level of security guarantees provided by the mutual defence clause, encourages the Member States to consider multinational cooperation in the area of capability development, and, where appropriate, specialisation, as core ...[+++]principles of their defence planning;

10. Reiterates its call for systematic harmonisation of military requirements and a harmonised EU defence planning and acquisition process, matching up to the EU’s level of ambition and coordinated with the NATO Defence Planning Process; taking into account the increased level of security guarantees provided by the mutual defence clause, encourages the Member States to consider multinational cooperation on capability development and, where appropriate, specialisation as core principles ...[+++]of their defence planning;

Question No. 621 Ms. Hélène Laverdière: With regard to the planned reductions in departmental spending for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) announced in Budget 2012, for fiscal years 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015: (a) what is the total dollar amount of reductions for each of the program activities, specifically, (i) International Policy Advice and Integration, (ii) Diplomacy and Advocacy, (iii) International Commerce, (iv) Consular Services and Emergency Management, (v) Passport Canada, (vi) Governance, Strategic Direction and Common Service Delivery; (b) what are the total reductions for full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each of the program activities, specifically, (i) International Policy Advice and ...[+++]Integration, (ii) Diplomacy and Advocacy, (iii) International Commerce, (iv) Consular Services and Emergency Management, (v) Passport Canada, (vi) Governance, Strategic Direction and Common Service Delivery; (c) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor for the Extractive Sector; (d) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Afghanistan, Middle East and Maghreb, broken down by (i) Afghanistan Inter-Departmental Communications and Information Services Bureau, (ii) Director General, Afghanistan Task Force, (iii) Middle East and Maghreb Bureau; (e) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Americas, broken down by (i) Director General, Latin America and Caribbean, (ii) Hemispheric Policy Bureau, (iii) North American Platform Program, Executive Coordinator and Senior Advisor, (iv) North America Policy Bureau, (v) North America Programs and Operations Bureau, (vi) North American Leaders' Summit Division; (f) what is the total dollar amount of reductions to the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister for Europe, Eurasia and Africa, broken down by (i) Africa Bureau, Director Gen ...

16. Recalls that the Lisbon Treaty has reinforced the role of the European Defence Agency (EDA) in supporting the Member States in their efforts to improve the military capabilities for the Common Security and Defence Policy; suggests, therefore, that the Member States ask the Agency to examine how to improve coordination of defence planning in Europe; recalls, furthermore, that the Treaty tasks the EDA to evaluate the observance of capability commitments and to promote the harmonisation of operational needs, and calls for better execution of these tasks; recommends that, as a first step in the ‘European semester’ exercise, the Member ...[+++] States could submit their draft national security and defence reviews to the EDA for advice, to assess them in particular in the light of the capability priorities set by the EDA steering board in the Capability Development Plan, as well as of the plans of the other Member States and of the NATO Defence Planning Process; believes that, in the very short term, the EDA should also play an important role in defining a European capabilities and armaments policy;

But simply pumping money into all three diplomacy, development, and defence under the same assumptions of the past many decades, assuming that the strategy that guided behaviour in the past remains correct and that this strategy, with resources to match, will, by definition, restore Canada's rightful place in the world, whatever that may be, simply makes little sense given the evidence we have in front of us today.

Current defence planning, as reflected in the Defence Planning Guidance 2000 and Defence Strategy 2020, emphasizes rapid response to developing crises, something that cannot easily or cheaply be accomplished by reservists.