The EUMS works under the military direction of the EUMC, to which it reports;
It is a Council Secretariat department directly attached to the SG/HR and it works in close cooperation with other departments of the Council Secretariat;
It is headed by the DGEUMS, a 3-star flag officer;
It is composed of personnel seconded from the Member States acting in an international capacity, in accordance with the rules applicable to national experts and military staff on secondment to the General Secretariat of the Council, as well as civil servants seconded from the GSC and the Commission. With the aim of improving the EUMS selection process, Member States are encouraged to present more than one candidate for each of the posts applied for;
In order to cope with the full spectrum of missions and tasks the EUMS is organised as in Annex ‘A’;
In crisis management situations or exercises, the EUMS may set up Crisis Action Teams (CAT), drawing upon its own expertise, manpower and infrastructure. In addition, it could, if necessary, request through the EUMC, manpower for temporary augmentation from the EU Member States;
The mission, function and organisation of the Civ/Mil Cell, as well as the operations centre configuration were approved by the Council on 13 December and endorsed by the European Council on 16-17 December 2004. The EUMC will provide guidance, through DGEUMS, on the military activities undertaken by the Civ/Mil Cell. Contributions by the Cell for civilian aspects of crisis management remain under the functional responsibility of DG E. Reporting on these activities to the CIVCOM will be in accordance with established procedures on civilian aspects of crisis management.