The French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie proposed the creation of a multinational Gendarmerie-type force, in September 2003. The original idea was to offer an operational, pre-organised, robust and rapidly deployable police force, able to perform all police tasks within the scope of crisis management operations, not only to the European Union or the United Nations also other Organisations.
Alliot-Marie and the Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino presented the idea at the Meeting of European Union Defence Ministers in October 2003. The Declaration of Intent was finally signed by defence ministers of the five participating countries in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, on 17 September 2004. On 23 January 2006, the Permanent Headquarters of the European Gendarmerie Force was officially inaugurated during a military ceremony at the General Chinotto barracks in Vicenza (Italy).
Following two successful exercises in Saint-Astier, France, in June 2005 and Valdemoro, Spain, in April 2006, EUROGENDFOR was declared fully operational on 20 July 2006. This status was formalised by the Treaty of Velsen on 18 October 2007, such date is considered its anniversary. Since then, EUROGENDFOR’s primary objective has been to enhance its operational capabilities in order to effectively respond to potential requests for involvement in crisis management.
Updated, August 2025.
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