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To replace its submarines dating back to the 1990s, Australia opted for the construction of 12 French ocean submarines. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian inked the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) in Adelaide that will see French shipbuilder DCNS design and build the Shortfin Barracudas (Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A). The total cost of the 12 submarines, including separate agreements with US and Australian contractors, will hit Aus $50 billion (34 Mds Euro). This contract would be the most important contract concluded by France with a foreign country.

Conventionnaly powered submarines
The vessels will be a scaled-down, conventionally-powered version of France's 4,700-tonne nuclear-fuelled Barracuda but boast the same stealth capabilities.Australia awarded DCNS the main contract in April, beating off competition from Germany TKMS (ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) and Japan Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

"Home-made vessels" with French know-how and US weapons
The IGA is the last foundation stone needed to ensure Australia is able to develop a cutting-edge sovereign submarine capability, this will be a sovereign defence industry creating 2,800 jobs at the very cutting edge of technology. This was the sine qua non condition for winning the contract. And in France probably between 3,000 and 4,000 jobs will be perpetuated thanks to this contract. Design and mobilisation work has already been launched with Australian experts working in Cherbourg while DCNS was to open new offices in Adelaide later Tuesday employing up to 300 engineers.
US defence contractor Lockheed Martin was named in September to fit the combat systems for the Barracudas.

Geopolitical background
If Australia decides today to renew its fleet of submarines, it is because the Pacific has become one of the hotspots of the planet. The Chinese government claims several archipelagos of the region, multiplying the frictions with the riparian states that also dispute them, like Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan or Vietnam. For several months, with enormous operations of backfilling, Beijing transforms coral reefs into artificial islands to place new advanced bases at the disposal of the army. According to the Pentagon, also worried by these maneuvers, China would have gained more than 600 ha on the waters.

For President François Hollande, who said the contract is historic, the announcement "marks a decisive step forward in the strategic partnership between the two countries, which will cooperate over 50 years on the major element of sovereignty represented by sub-marine capacity ".

The Deficiencies, Mistakes and Contradictions of the New EU Foreign and Security Strategy
Evolution or Devolution? From the « Solana Paper » to the « Mogherini Paper »
András István Türke
CERPESC 16/E/3/2016 - 20 December 2016

The events of the last 20 years, the first operations and missions, show that the Common Security and Defense Policy, the CSDP (the European Security and Defense Policy: the ESDP, before 2009) does not exist only on paper. Europe must act to prevent wars and crises or to stop them. The European Union and its member countries are confronted with decisive choices for the future of Europe as a political entity. The external (and above all, energy) dependence of the Union is particularly emphasized by the European security strategies. The documents that function as strategies (the first, the 2003 ESS and the most recent, 2016 EUGS) of the European Union are quite poor in terms of content and objectives. They list the challenges, without drafting the places and means of the overall strategic presence. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the major development issues of EU strategic thinking during the period 2003-2016. Can we talk about development, stagnation, or devolution? Is the new strategy capable of fulfilling its role and can really serve as the basis of our ambitions?

Since his appointment in 2012, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is concerned about the threats in cyberspace. With reason. CIA suspicions about the role played by Russian hackers in the election of Donald Trump to the fears expressed by the German Chancellor, the "cyber-menace" is now omnipresent. On the occasion of the inauguration on Monday of a skill center on cyber defense in Rennes as well as a new building with 7,000 sensors to house the cyber experiments of the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) in Bruz (Ille-et-Vilaine), Jean-Yves Le Drian announced in a way the creation of a 4th army, or at least its matrix, that of cyberspace, to complete the army of the last century built on the triptych land, air and sea.

The future cyber force will be based on three missions:
- intelligence (identification of faults, detection of hostile actions),
- protection (building walls of cyber fortress)
- and finally computerized offensive fight (neutralization of tools used by the cyber - opponent).
But Jean-Yves Le Drian goes further: "If a cyber attack is akin to an act of war, notably by the seriousness of its effects, an adequate response must be imposed, even beyond the neutralization of infrastructures alone Involved, in a logic this time of open conflict. "

Clearly, the Minister of Defense warns that in the event of an attack, France reserves the right to retaliate by a cyber or conventional counter-attack. It is the first time that France officially warns its potential opponents that it can qualify a cyber attack in act of war and to respond accordingly. "A major computer attack, given the damage it would cause, could constitute an armed attack within the meaning of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and justify the invocation of self-defense," the Minister said. So to replicate in a "proportional" way, we need a cyber-army.

On Monday, the minister summarized the efforts made and the road ahead. Under the latest military planning law, the force under construction will reach 3,200 people by 2018, double the number in 2012. Given the high level of technical skills required, the minister is also proposing to build a reserve of 4,400 specialists , Of which 400 are capable of offensive action. There, it is a matter of multiplying by ten the effort. Finally, on the side of the DGA, the effort must be multiplied by three to go from 250 to 650 experts. Over 2014-2019, the appropriations devoted to the cyber-war amount to 440 million euros.

Finally, the minister announced the imminent appointment of a new cyber operations commander, a four-star general who will be placed directly under the authority of the chief of staff. In order to carry out military operations, the French army will have its commander-in-chief, which will "have authority over all operational units specializing in cyber defense of the ministry, belonging to all armies, ie 2,600 digital fighters by 2019". Vice-Admiral Arnaud Coustillière, appointed general officer in cyber defense in July 2011, is approached. Decrees and decrees will be promulgated to institutionalize this cyber defense. For the minister, the white collar war is just beginning. In this respect, he often referred to the Stuxnet weapon, the undetectable virus transmitted on Iranian nuclear centrifuges, which delayed Iran's advances in nuclear enrichment by at least two years. 'uranium.

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Depuis sa nomination en 2012, le ministre français de défense, Jean-Yves Le Drian s'inquiète des menaces dans le cyberespace. Avec raison. Des soupçons de la CIA sur le rôle joué par des hackeurs russes dans l'élection de Donald Trump aux craintes exprimées par la chancelière allemande, la « cyber-menace » est désormais omniprésente. A l'occasion de l'inauguration ce lundi d'un pôle de compétences sur la cyberdéfense à Rennes ainsi que d'un nouveau bâtiment doté de 7.000 capteurs pour abriter les expériences cyber de la Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) à Bruz (Ille-et-Vilaine), Jean-Yves Le Drian a annoncé en quelque sorte la mise sur pied d'une quatrième armée, ou tout du moins de sa matrice, celle du cyberespace, pour compléter l'armée du siècle passé, construite sur le triptyque terre, air et mer.

La future force cyber s'articulera autour de trois missions : le renseignement (identification des failles, détection des actions hostiles), la protection (édification des murs de la forteresse cyber) et enfin la lutte informatique offensive (neutralisation des outils employés par l'adversaire). Mais Jean-Yves Le Drian va au-delà : « Si une attaque cyber s'apparente à un acte de guerre, notamment par la gravité de ses effets, une riposte adéquate s'impose, au-delà même de la neutralisation des seules infrastructures impliquées, dans une logique cette fois de conflit ouvert. »

En clair, le ministre de la Défense avertit qu'en cas d'attaque, la France se réserve le droit de riposter par une contre-attaque cyber ou conventionnelle. C'est la première fois que la France prévient ainsi officiellement ses adversaires potentiels qu'elle peut qualifier une attaque cyber en acte de guerre et y riposter en conséquence. « Une attaque informatique majeure, eu égard aux dommages qu'elle causerait, pourrait constituer une agression armée au sens de l'article 51 de la Charte des Nations unies et justifier l'invocation de la légitime défense », affirme le ministre. Donc pour répliquer d'une manière « proportionnelle », il faut une cyber-armée.

Une réserve de 4.400 spécialistes
Le ministre a dressé ce lundi un bilan des efforts fournis et du chemin qui reste à parcourir. La force en construction atteindra selon la dernière loi de programmation militaire 3.200 personnes à l'horizon 2018, soit le double des effectifs de 2012. Au vu des compétences techniques de très haut niveau nécessaires, le ministre propose aussi de bâtir une réserve de 4.400 spécialistes, dont 400 aptes à des actions offensives. Là, il s'agit de multiplier par dix l'effort. Enfin, du côté de la DGA, l'effort doit être multiplié par trois pour passer de 250 à 650 experts. Sur 2014-2019, les crédits consacrés à la cyber-guerre atteignent 440 millions d'euros.

Enfin, le ministre a annoncé la nomination imminente d'un nouveau commandant des opérations cyber, un général quatre étoiles qui sera placé directement sous l'autorité du chef d'Etat-major. Pour mener des opérations militaires, l'armée française aura son commandant en chef, lequel « aura autorité sur toutes les unités opérationnelles spécialisées dans la cyberdéfense du ministère, appartenant à toutes les armées, soit 2.600 combattants numériques à l'horizon 2019 ». Le vice-amiral Arnaud Coustillière, nommé officier général à la cyberdéfense en juillet 2011, est pressenti. Des décrets et arrêtés vont être promulgués pour institutionnaliser cette cyberdéfense.

Pour le ministre, la guerre en col blanc ne fait que commencer. Il a, à cet égard, souvent fait allusion ce lundi à l'arme Stuxnet, ce virus indétectable transmis sur les centrifugeuses nucléaires iraniennes qui a permis de retarder d'au moins deux ans les avancées de l'Iran en matière d'enrichissement d'uranium.

More than 12,000 people have already signed a petition asking the Geneva-based giant Trafigura to sell only gasoline and diesel that comply with European standards around the world.
The Swiss trader business model of producing and selling highly polluting high sulfur fuels in Africa has also been politically critical. In Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal, the responsible authorities and members of the government have had to answer many questions and criticisms about the health consequences of poor sulfur standards and poor quality fuels.

Swiss commodity trading companies take advantage of weak fuel standards in Africa to produce, deliver and sell diesel and gasoline, which is damaging to people’s health. Their business model relies on an illegitimate strategy of deliberately lowering the quality of fuels in order to increase their profits. Using a common industry practice called blending, trading companies mix cheap but toxic intermediate petroleum products to make what the industry calls “African Quality” fuels. These intermediate products contain high levels of sulphur as well as other toxic substances such as benzene and aromatics.

By selling such fuels at the pump in Africa, the traders increase outdoor air pollution, causing respiratory disease and premature death. This affects West Africa, in particular, because this is the region where the authorised levels of sulphur in fuels remain very high. West Africa does not have the re ning capacity to produce enough gasoline and diesel for its own consumption, and so it must import the majority of its fuels from Europe and the US, where fuel standards are strict, Public Eye`s investigation September 2016 analyse writes.

To draw attention to this swiss illegal traffic, thanks to Public Eye's "Return to sender" action, the container Irene Rainbow, with on board a container marked "Return to sender" ", Filled with polluted air from the Ghanaian capital traveled 7,000 kilometers separating Accra from the port of Anvers and was then transported to Geneva, where it was handed to Trafigura.

The new European Border and Coast Guard Agency (EBCG) is established today, October 6, 2016.

This successor of the former Frontex (from French: Frontières extérieures for "external borders") is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, tasked with border control of the European Schengen Area, in coordination with the border and coast guards of Schengen Area member states. Frontex was established in 2004 as the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, and primary responsible for coordinating border control efforts.

In response to the European migrant crisis of 2015-2016, the European Commission proposed on December 15, 2015, to extend Frontex's mandate and to transform it into a fully-fledged European Border and Coast Guard Agency. On 18 December 2015, the European Council roundly supported the proposal, and after a vote by the European Parliament, the Border and Coast Guard was officially launched on 6 October 2016 at the Bulgarian external border with Turkey.

To enable the Agency to carry out its tasks, its budget would be gradually increased from the €143 million originally planned for 2015 up to €238 million in 2016, €281 million in 2017, and will reach €322 million (about US$350 million) in 2020. The staff of the agency would gradually increase from 402 members in 2016 to 1,000 by 2020.

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency is not a new body. It does not replace Frontex and it retains the same legal personality. What the Commission draft Regulation aims to do is to strengthen the mandate of the EU border agency, to increase its competences and to better equip it to carry out its operational activities. The new tasks and responsibilities of the Agency need to be reflected by its new name. It coordinates its work alongside the European Fisheries Control Agency and European Maritime Safety Agency with regard to coastguard functions.
The permanent staff of the Agency will be more than doubled between 2015 and 2020. The new proposal provides for a reserve of European border guards and technical equipment. The Agency will be able to purchase its own equipment (this is not a novelty). However - and this is new - the Member States where this equipment is registered (this refers mainly to big equipment items such as patrol vessels, air crafts, etc. which need a flag of state) will be obliged to put it at the Agency's disposal whenever needed. this will make it possible for the Agency to rapidly deploy the necessary technical in border operations. A rapid reserve pool of border guards and a technical equipment pool will be put at the disposal of the agency, intending to remove the shortages of staff and equipment for the Agency's operations.

A monitoring and risk analysis centre will be established, with the authorisation to carry out risk analysis and to monitor the flows towards and within the EU. The risk analyses includes cross-border crime and terrorism, process personal data of persons suspected to be involved in acts of terrorism and cooperate with other Union agencies and international organisations on the prevention of terrorism. A mandatory vulnerability assessments of the capacities of the Member States to face current or upcoming challenges at their external borders will be established. The Agency is able to launch joint operations, including the use of drones when necessary. The European Space Agency's earth observation system Copernicus provides the new Agency with real time satellite surveillance capabilities alongside the current Eurosur border surveillance system.

ember States will be able to request joint operations, rapid border interventions, and deployment of the EBCG Teams to support national authorities when a Member State experiences an influx of migrants that endangers the Schengen area. In such a case, especially when a Member State’s action is not sufficient to handle the crisis, the Commission will have the authority to adopt an implementing decision that will determine whether a situation at a particular section of the external borders requires urgent action at the EU level. Based on this decision, the EBCGA will be able to intervene and deploy EBCG Teams to ensure that action is taken on the ground, even when a Member State is unable or unwilling to take the necessary measures.

The right to intervene is a point of contention between a number of EU Members and the Commission, especially those Members whose borders form the external borders of the EU, such as Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Poland. They want to ensure that intervention is possible only with the consent of the Member States, whose external borders necessitate the presence of the ECBGA. Greece’s Alternate Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, stated in an interview that while Greece is supportive of a common European action and of changing Frontex’s mandate, it wants the ECBGA to take complete charge of migration and refugee flows.