22.2.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 49/3 COUNCIL DECISION of 14 February 2000 on the secondment of national experts in the military field to the General Secretariat of the Council during an interim period (2000/145/CFSP) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in partic- ular Article 28(1), Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 207(2), Whereas: (1)  In the framework of the strengthening of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and in particular of the common European policy on security and defense provided for in Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Council meeting in Helsinki on 10-11 December 1999 invited the Council to establish as of March 2000 the interim bodies and arrangements for the implementation of the common European policy on security and defence. (2)  The European Council laid down as an interim measure, that the General Secretariat of the Council would be stengthened as of March 2000 by military experts seconded by Member States in order to assist in the work of the common European policy on security and defence and to form the nucleus of the future military staff, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 1. National experts in the military field (hereinafter referred to as the ‘military experts’) will be seconded from member States to the General Secretariat of the Council, hereinafter referred to as the ‘General secretariat’. 2. The military experts will be part of the General Secre- tariat. They will provide military expertise to the Interim Mili- tary Body set up by Council Decision 2000/144/CESP of 14 February 2000 (') and the Secretary General/High Repres- entative to support the CFSP. They will form the nucleus of the future military staff. They will assist the Interim Military Body. Article 2 A military expert on secondment shall be a national of a Member State of the European Union. Article 3 The military experts will be subject to the rules which will be established in a Council Decision to be adopted by 29 February 2000. Atticle 4 1.  This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption. 2. It shall apply, subject to the rules referred to in Article 3 having been adopted, as from 1 March 2000. Atticle 5 This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal. Done at Brussels, 14 February 2000. For the Council The President J. GAMA (1) See page 2 of this Official Journal.