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Abstract:
Common diving operation involving the Naval Forces of different EU member states remain almost impossible to carry out, insofar as, up to now, there have been no common European diving standards, which might allow such a cooperation. This lack of interoperability has led to a sever lack ofspecialized ships and divers, capabilities which are crucial for any national or international naval operation.
Keywords: diving; Naval Forces; EU; European standards; interoperability, capabilities; naval operations.
INTRODUCTION
Collective defence is an area of high interest for EU member states. Until not long ago, the defence-related actions taken at the EU level were limited. Nevertheless, in response to a new difficult global context, the EU has launched new initiatives in the area of defence meant to consolidate cooperation among members. Contribution to a better defence capability in Europe means to overcome the discussion stage and calls upon the effective application of real initiatives, in order to endorse a competitive European defence industry and to strengthen the military capabilities of the member states, in full agreement with NATO.
We have chosen the topic of this article starting from the idea that THE EUROPEAN UNION NETWORK OF DIVING CENTRES (EUNDC) project, in which Romania is the coordinating nation, is an up-to-date issue, in course of implementation and of general interest in the current geostrategic context.
Using their specialized skills and equipment, divers carry out a wide range of critical tasks, among which underwater reconnaissance, underwater obstacles disposal, underwater IOD, underwater critical infrastructure protection, vessel maintenance and repair, SAR missions and submarine crew rescue missions. Although the equipment and tasks have evolved throughout the history of military divers, the divers 'community commitment and comradeship have stayed the same.
THE EUROPEAN UNION NETWORK OF DIVING CENTRES (EUNDC), apart from providing the EU leaders and partner countries with the possibility to improve education and training, also helps the Alliance to extend interoperability, increase critical capabilities, develop its doctrine and standards at European levels, perform analyses and experiments in order to test and validate concepts. The EUNDC will work alongside the Alliance and encourage the internal and foreign information exchange, to the EU benefit.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY DIVINGS SINCE ANCIENT TIMES TO OUR DAYS
Ever since the beginnings of the human existence,...