Defence`s Feeds

In addition to the four keynote speeches delivered by Federica Mogherini (Head of the EDA), Julian King (EU Commissioner for the Security Union), Kersti Kaljulaid (President of Estonia) and Mikko Hypponen (Chief Research Officer, F-Secure), participants at this year’s EDA Annual Conference witnessed two lively and interactive panel debates on cyber as a ‘persistent strategic challenge’ and enhanced cooperation in Europe and beyond, and on how to tackle growing cyber threats.

Panel 1: Cyber - A persistent strategic challenge

High-level panellists in the first roundtable were General Riho Terras (Commander of Estonia’s Defence Forces), Dirk Hoke (Airbus Defence and Space CEO), Lieutenant General Ludwig Leinhos (Commander of the German Cyber and Information Space Command), Kevin Scheid (NATO NCIA General Manager), Neil Cassidy (Rolls Royce VP Director Cyber Security, Risk & Compliance) and Fabrice Clement (Proximus Director Security Governance & Investigations).

The panel discussed a number of key questions such as ‘How far do EU Member States share cyber-threat assessments?’, ‘How are national governments tailoring their responses and increasing their preparedness levels?’, or ‘How should European institutions support Member States in their efforts to navigate the myriad initiatives linked to cybersecurity and cyber defence?’.

Better information sharing and enhanced cyber defence cooperation are indispensable, not only between EU member States but also between the EU and NAT. Speakers also pointed to the need to avoid duplication of efforts and to increase cooperation with industry for delivery of the required technological solutions to counter growing cyber threats. The importance of cyber education and training was highlighted, as was the serious problem of finding and recruiting skilled cyber experts in Europe today, set to worsen in the future.
 

Panel 2: European solutions to global problems

The afternoon panel discussion saw high-profile speakers discuss potential technological solutions, how industry is adapting to provide such technologies, and what the EU and NATO can do to support this process. Questions raised ranged from ‘How should Member States’ defence procurement models adapt to the fact that most of the available cyber defence technology today is dual-use?’, ‘How far are civilians and the military cooperating and exchanging best practises to avoid duplication and promote excellence?’ or ‘Where should the EDA focus its efforts to support EU Member States when it comes to cyber?’.

The four high-level panellists were: Annegret Bendiek (Senior Associate Europe Research at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, SWP), Jakub Boratynski, (Head of Unit for Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy, DG Connect, European Commission), Rogier Holla (Deputy Head of the EU Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-EU), Merle Maigre (NATO CCD COE Director) and George Sharkov (the National Cybersecurity Coordinator & Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bulgaria).

The speakers touched on the importance of research and innovation in the civilian and military sides of cyber, on international norms in cyber warfare, the Tallinn Manual, and failed UN attempts to regulate and on the protection of critical infrastructure. All agreed on the urgent need to update existing SCADA systems to adapt to the current threat landscape.
 

More information:

 

• Federica Mogherini opens Annual Conference at “most important moment for EU defence in décades”
• Remarks by High-Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the 2017 Annual Conference of the European Defence Agency
• Estonian President Kaljulaid: EU needs shared cyber expertise and joint exercise at strategic level
• 2017 Annual Conference closes with call to step up cyber defence cooperation
• Jorge Domecq closing speech EDA Annual Conference 2017

 

 

 

Length of video : 178'
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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

In her keynote speech delivered at the EDA's Annual Conference 2017, Kersti Kaljulaid, the President of Estonia, urged EU Member States to step up cybersecurity awareness building, including in the military domain, “by learning from each other and sharing best practices”.

The Estonian EU Presidency led by example last September when, in cooperation with the European Defence Agency, it organised ‘EU CYBRID 2017’, a strategic table-top cyber defence exercise which for the first time ever involved EU defence ministers, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission, cyber-related EU agencies as well as NATO’s Secretary General.

“Among many other valuable lessons, EU CYBRID 2017 showed that although political decision makers would in case of a cyberattack be the first to react and make decisions, their understanding, knowledge and awareness of the nature of cyber incidents still leaves much to be desired”, the President said. “This shows that exercises like EU CYBRID 2017 have to be conducted regularly both on the Member State and EU level”, Mrs Kaljulaid added.

Since the cyber domain evolves constantly, joint cyber exercises need to involve the higher political (ministerial) level because some aspects of cyber defence are “politically sensitive”, such as the attribution of attacks. “A technical point at first glance, but a political decision at the end of the day” which also impacts the choice between offensive and defensive responses. While there is no doubt that these questions are for Member States to decide, “they need not only to be discussed but also exercised at strategic level”, she said.

 

“EDA has to continue with its successful projects”

The Estonian President welcomed last Monday’s EU Council conclusions on cyber which, along with the European Commission’s cyber package, should give “new impetus to cyber security issues for the years to come”.

In this context the EDA, too, has an important role to play: “I do believe strongly that in this situation the European Defence Agency should continue with the successful projects it has conducted so far and which complement the projects of the Commission without unnecessary duplication. For example, I believe that EDA should concentrate its efforts on education, training and strategic level exercises, because those are the fields – whether we like it or not – where the Member States have probably the biggest shortfalls and at the same time willingness to do more cooperation at the European level”.

"We must also think about how the EDA’s cyber activities would contribute to the European Defence Industrial Development Programme and the Permanent Structured Cooperation, and vice versa”, Mrs Kaljulaid added.

More information:

 

• Federica Mogherini opens Annual Conference at “most important moment for EU defence in décades”
• Remarks by High-Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the 2017 Annual Conference of the European Defence Agency
• Annual conference delivers insights on future of cyber defence
• 2017 Annual Conference closes with call to step up cyber defence cooperation
• Jorge Domecq closing speech EDA Annual Conference 2017

 

The European Defence Agency (EDA) Annual Conference 2017 entitled 'Security in the digital age: the added value of European cooperation’ was opened Thursday morning (23 November) in Brussels by the Head of the Agency, Federica Mogherini.

Addressing a 400-strong audience representing the whole European defence spectrum - governments, armed forces, industry, EU institutions, NATO, think tanks and media - Mrs Mogherini said the conference was taking place “at the most important moment for European defence in decades” with bold new initiatives such as the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defence Fund (EDF) creating an unprecedented momentum for enhanced cooperation.

“Today, we are building a European Union of security and defence. It' not a plan, not a dream anymore, but a reality (...) All the building blocks of a security and defence union are finally there”, she stated. This means that Member States can now project and develop their defence capabilities together: “We can buy together, to ensure that we have all the capabilities we need while also spending efficiently. And we can act together, much better than before, to manage or prevent crises, to strengthen our partners, to make our citizens more secure”. Acting together is a necessity “because today’s security challenges are too big for any of our Member States alone. Everyone understands this today. Our citizens are asking for more security and more efficient budgets, and the two are only possible if we join forces”, Mrs Mogherini stressed.
 

The EDA, a leading force

“The Council, the Commission and the European Defence Agency have all played their part in shaping the path towards a European Union of security and defence”, she went on. The EDA was a “leading force” in defining the recent ‘defence package’ and, as far as PESCO is concerned, is already helping Member States assess the value of their projects for cooperation. “This will be central to the success of PESCO”, the Head of the Agency stressed.

The ambition is to move towards a European security and defence union, not re-open the debate on a European army. “But in a way, we are doing something that is much more ambitious. We already have European missions and operations - 15 of them so far - and we have created a single command centre for our training and advisory missions. We are now working to build a truly European defence industry, a truly European defence market, and a truly European defence research which are the basis for a truly European defence. European military trainings are a concrete option. And the possibilities of PESCO are immense”, she stated. The CARD and the European Defence Fund (EDF) are also key instruments in which the EDA has "great expertise, a huge potential - which also means huge responsibilities - to support Member States and the Commission in their decisions".
 

Cyber defence: clear need for closer cooperation

Turning to the conference topic, Mrs Mogherini said cyber was a defence domain where close cooperation was more indispensable than ever. “Cyber threats require a response that is both civilian and military. To protect our cyberspace, we will need more research, better capabilities, more training and exercises, in constant coordination with our partners”.

Promising new cyber initiatives recently saw the light - such as the setting up of a Hybrid Fusion Cell within the External Action Service, the inauguration of the European Centre for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki, the first ever European strategic cybersecurity table-top exercise ‘CYBRID’ co-organised last September by the Estonian Presidency of the EU Council and the EDA, and last year's EU-NATO Joint Declaration which also covers cybersecurity - but more needs to be done: “We have to explore the full range of possibilities that we have built over the last couple of years with the Commission, Member States, the External Action Service and the European Defence Agency”.
 

Exciting journey

With the new tools (CARD, PESCO, EDF) in place, EU defence cooperation has reached a level that was unimaginable not only 60 years ago but even just six months ago, Mrs Mogherini said. “A new exciting journey has just started. Everyone will have to play it role, starting of course from us, from the European Defence Agency and the External Action Service. We will have to find new ways of working together across the institutions – knowing that this is for the entire Union, for each of our citizens, and for a more peaceful and secure world”.
 

More information:

 

• Remarks by High-Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the 2017 Annual Conference of the European Defence Agency
• Estonian President Kaljulaid: EU needs shared cyber expertise and joint exercise at strategic level
• Annual conference delivers insights on future of cyber defence
• 2017 Annual Conference closes with call to step up cyber defence cooperation
• Jorge Domecq closing speech EDA Annual Conference 2017
  

Length of video : 213'
You may manually download this video in WMV (1.9Gb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

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