On 15 April, SEDE Members will welcome for the first time the Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Fernando Arias. Since its creation, the OPCW has been instrumental in the verified destruction of 90% of the world's declared stockpile of chemical agents. However, in the past decade, the norm against the use of chemical weapons has started showing signs of erosion and the threat posed by chemical warfare is considered as one of the most pressing global security threats. Members will therefore discuss with the Ambassador Arias possible ways to contain the spread and use of chemical weapons inside and outside of the military domain, and to bring the counties violating the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, back to full compliance.
On Tuesday 16 March, MEPs examined with Rafael Grossi the IAEA's activities and challenges related to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The Subcommittee on Security and Defence, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy focused on the challenges posed by the global non-proliferation regime, questions related to nuclear safety and security, as well as peaceful ways to use nuclear energy, including applications designed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
MEPs also assessed the consequences of Iran's recent decision to suspend the application of its safeguard agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). MEPs questioned the IAEA Director General about how the agency can carry out its monitoring tasks in the future and ensure that the Iranian nuclear programme is being used solely for peaceful purposes.On Monday, 1 March and Thursday, 4 March 2021, AIDA will hold a public hearing on the external policy dimension of AI in association with AFET and SEDE. The event will be divided into two panels, with a first panel on "AI diplomacy and governance in a global setting: towards regulatory convergence" and a second panel on "AI, cybersecurity and defence".
The two panels will allow AIDA, AFET and SEDE Members to exchange views with international panelists on a range of emergent policy issues relating to AI, ranging from the developing global regulatory dialogue on AI to the uses of AI in the fields of cybersecurity and defence.In the context of the exponential growth of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the President of the European Parliament has announced a number of measures to contain the spread of epidemic and to safeguard Parliament's core activities.
The current precautionary measures adopted by the European Parliament to contain the spread of COVID-19 do not affect work on legislative priorities. Core activities are reduced, but maintained to ensure that the institution's legislative, budgetary, scrutiny functions are maintained.
The meetings will be with remote participation for Members (being able to view and listen to proceedings, ask for the floor and intervene in the meeting). Other participants are invited to follow the meeting through webstreaming.Following these decisions, the next meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will take place on 14 and 15 April 2021 (online).
The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.