L 345/96 Official Journal of the European Union 23.12.2008 COUNCIL DECISION 2008/975/CFSP of 18 December 2008 establishing a mechanism to administer the financing of the common costs of European Union operations having military or defence implications (Athena) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 13(3) and 28(3) thereof, Whereas: The European Council, meeting in Helsinki on 10 and 11 December 1999, agreed in particular that, ‘coop- erating voluntarily in EU-led operations, Member States must be able, by 2003, to deploy within 60 days and sustain for at least 1 year, military forces of up to 50 000 to 60 000 persons capable of the full range of Petersberg tasks’. On 17 June 2002, the Council approved the arrangements for the financing of EU-led crisis- management operations having military or defence impli- cations. The Council, in its conclusions of 14 May 2003, confirmed the need for a rapid reaction capability, in particular for humanitarian and rescue tasks. The European Council, meeting in Thessaloniki on 19 and 20 June 2003, welcomed the conclusions of the Council meeting on 19 May 2003, which in particular confirmed the need for a European Union military rapid reaction capability. On 22 September 2003, the Council decided that the European Union should acquire the capacity to flexibly manage the financing of common costs of military operations of any scale, complexity or urgency, in particular by setting up, by 1 March 2004 at the latest, a permanent financing mechanism to assume charge of the financing of common costs of any future Union military operation. On 23 February 2004, the Council adopted Decision 2004/197|CESP establishing a mechanism to administer the financing of the common costs of European Union operations having military or defence implications (!) (ATHENA). The Decision has subsequently been amended several times. The Council therefore codified the Decision by adopting Decision 2007/384/CFSP (%) on 14 May 2007. The EU Military Committee defined in detail the concept of EU Military Rapid Response in its Report of 3 March 2004. It further defined the EU Battle Groups concept on 14 June 2004. The European Council on 17 June 2004 endorsed a Report on European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) which underlined that work on EU Rapid Response capacities should be taken forward with a view to an initial operational capability by early 2005. In that context, the pre-financing of the European Union’s military operations should be improved. The scheme for early financing is therefore intended first and foremost for Rapid Response operations. The Council decides on a case-by-case basis whether an operation has military or defence implications, within the meaning of Article 28(3) of the Treaty. () O] L 63, 28.2.2004, p. 68. () O] L 152, 13.6.2007, p. 14.