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European Security and Defence College

European War Colleges Initiative

The European Higher Military Education – EU War Colleges Initiative 

Back of a fregatte and two supports ships in a harbour at nigh. Middle ESDC logo. On the right a Carabinieri Head with 2 Golden Stars and the Carabinieri symbol on it

About the Initiative

The European Higher Military Education – EU War Colleges Initiative is a project-focused configuration of the ESDC Executive Academic Board (EAB), launched in autumn 2022 following a French proposal to establish a working group on war colleges during France’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in June 2022. The aim of this configuration is to bring together the War Colleges—or equivalent institutions—of EU Member States to facilitate the exchange of trainers and trainees, promote a common security and defence culture, interoperability, share best practices, and foster partnerships and joint projects in the CSDP framework. The target audience comprises senior officers and other participants enrolled in courses at War Colleges or equivalent entities.

The initiative’s main achievement to date has been the development of the European Higher Military Education EU Common Training Module, designed for implementation across War Colleges and similar institutions throughout the European Union.

Looking ahead, the initiative aims to expand the course portfolio and enhance mobility opportunities for both participants and lecturers across the War Colleges and equivalent institutions of EU Member States. It is exploring the development of additional one-week Common Training Modules dedicated to higher military education, as well as longer modules—lasting one or more weeks—focused on the operational and strategic levels within the EU CSDP framework.

Chair and Configuration Support

  • Brigadier General Didier Oustric in the Uniform of the French Airforce. In front of the French and EU flag.
    Chair - Didier Oustric

    As an intelligence officier, Brigadier General Didier Oustric has made a long carrer in the French Air Force, serving in particular in an Air Refuelling Squadron (KC 135) and in an Air Bombing Squadron. Being graduated in Chinese langage, he was assigned to the French Embassy in Beijing (China) as an Air Force Attaché and Deputy Defence Attaché and as a Defence Attaché at the French embassy in Hanoi (Vietnam), also responsible for Lao and Cambodia. 

    He served also at the French Directorate of Military Intelligence, where he occupied several positions including Chief of Asian and Eastern Europe Desk and diplomatic adviser of the Director. Then he moved to the French War College in Paris, being assigned to the position of both Head of a teaching Department and Chief of Air Division, focussing on operational level education of the senior officers. In 2020, he was promoted to Brigadier General and took over the responsibilities of General in charge of International Relations at French Directorate of Higher Military Studies.

  • Col Jugoslav Jozić blue suite. Picture focused on his face. Slightly bluerred background
    ESDC Coordinator - Jugoslav Jozić

    A Croatian Seconded National Expert, Colonel Jozić serves as the Training Manager and Team Coordinator for Partnerships and Engagement at the ESDC, as well as the coordinator of the European Higher Military Education / EU War Colleges Initiative. With over 30 years of experience in the Croatian Armed Forces and NATO, he has held senior command, staff, academic, and diplomatic positions—including Branch Chief in the Cooperation and Regional Security Division at the IMS, NATO HQ; Defence Attaché to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; Director of the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies; and Vice-Dean for International Cooperation at the Croatian Defence Academy. Colonel Jozić holds a PhD in Political Science (international relations and national security), from the University of Zagreb, a Master’s in Defence, Geostrategy, and Industrial Dynamics from the University Paris II ASSAS, and is a graduate of the French War College. He lectures on geopolitics at the Croatian War College and has authored works on the Balkans and Eastern Europe.