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 meetings of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) will take place on 12 and 13 July 2021 (online).
The meeting agenda and documents will be published here.
The Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence will go over the outcome of the recent NATO Summit and the launch of the review of the 2010 Strategic Concept, together with NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană. The current Strategic Concept needs to be reviewed to take into account the situation of the international order and how NATO can contribute to European and transatlantic security in the current context. The meeting will be held on 28 June.
The Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a debate with Dr Amanda Sloat, Special Assistant to US President Biden and Senior Director for Europe, National Security Council of the United States, on 24 June. Dr Sloat was part of the delegation accompanying President Biden during his first overseas trip since taking office in January 2021. The debate will look back and reflect on the outcome of the EU-US Summit that took place 15 June.
The meeting will be held in association with the European Parliament delegation for relations with the United States.
The Subcommittee on Security and Defence will hold a meeting with Nobuo Kishi, Minister of Defence of Japan, on 17 June. The aim is to go over the progress in the implementation of the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement in the area of security and defence. The debate will also look into translating commitments taken at the last EU-Japan Summit into joint actions to tackle global and regional challenges amidst rapidly intensifying geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific.
The recently adopted EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and prospects for further enhancing synergies with Japan as one of the EU's main strategic regional partners in the framework of the Strategy, will also be addressed.