European Union

The European Defence Agency supports the first Central and Eastern European (CEE) Armaments Cooperation Course which takes place in Prague from 13-16 March 2018, gathering some 30 delegates from 10 CEE Member States. Sponsored and led by the Czech Republic and delivered by Cranfield University’s Centre for Defence Acquisition, the course will strengthen the practical skills of staff from CEE Ministries of Defence (MoDs) and related agencies in defence procurement procedures, with an emphasis on multinational collaboration.

The 2013 European Council stressed the need for a balanced access to defence industry in Europe, as a result of which EDA conducted an internal analysis of the specificities of the CEE countries’ defence industries and commissioned a study from RAND Europe to better understand  the barriers to defence cooperation across Europe. The study identified several areas of concern and noted that the CEE countries face a common challenge in accessing the skills needed to pursue defence collaboration opportunities, with identified shortfalls in areas such as project and programme management, marketing and networking, market intelligence and business planning.

The course represents a tangible and tailor-made opportunity for CEE Member States to improve their capacity in all these areas . It comes at a time of transformational change across the European defence landscape with the advent of several new initiatives such as the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), Permanent Structure Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defence Fund (EDF). It will serve as a springboard for the CEE countries to participate more effectively in collaboration efforts and will underpin an alumni network that will provide on-going advice on best practice and longer term networking opportunities.

The course is designed for military and civilian officials working on defence acquisition issues.
 

More information:

• EDA education and exercise programme (video)

Agustín Conde Bajén, Secretary of State for Defence of Spain, met with Jorge Domecq, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA) today. Discussions focused on EU defence initiatives as well as Spain’s current and potential future contributions to EDA projects and programmes.

During the meeting with the Secretary of State, discussions included the general state of play of the Implementation Plan on Security and Defence of the EU Global Strategy including the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), the Permanent Structured Cooperation on security and defence (PESCO) and the European Defence Fund, with focus of the discussions on EDA's role in all three initiatives.

State Secretary Conde and Chief Executive Domecq also exchanged views on EDA’s further development in view of the long-term review (LTR) and discussed Spain’s involvement in ongoing EDA projects and activities with focus on the EDA GovSatCom programme where Spain has a leading role. The State Secretary was also briefed on EDA’s support to Member States in the framework of SES/SESAR.

Spain, as the Secretary of State underlined, supports the principles of action of EDA and promotes collaboration with other Member States to improve defence capabilities. Mr. Conde pointed out that “the EDA is the framework provided by the EU for those Member States willing to develop common military capabilities, while acting at the same time as the key enabler in the development of the capabilities required to support the CSDP of the EU”.

The Secretary of State for Defence emphasised “the enormous interest of Spain and of its defence industry in the initiatives promoted by the EDA”. Mr Conde appreciated “the essential impulse provided by this Agency to the process of construction of a real Common Security and Defence Policy”.

Jorge Domecq thanked the State Secretary for his visit and Spain’s involvement in the Agency’s activities. “The EDA GovSatCom programme has made good progress over the last years, due in no small part to Spain’s engaged role as lead nation. I am looking forward to the next step in the programme, which will be the signing of the GovSatCom Pooling & Sharing Demonstration project arrangement before the summer”, said Jorge Domecq.

The July 2016 EU-NATO Joint Declaration focused on 7 areas of cooperation and set out 42 actions for implementation. In December 2017, the EU and NATO agreed to an additional 34 new actions, with the third Progress Report assessing the implementation of the 76 actions expected in June 2018.  Activities in the area of cyber security and cyber defence are an important element of EU-NATO cooperation, of which a key objective is to ensure coherence and complementarity between EU and NATO efforts and to avoid duplication.

In this context, Antonio Missiroli, Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO, visited the European Defence Agency on 8 March for first time after his appointment, as part of ongoing high level and staff to staff cooperation, where he met with EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq.

The two discussed recent developments on EU and NATO on areas of common interest, and the impact of emerging security challenges on the activities of the two organisations. They focused in particular on ongoing efforts in cyber defence, a key chapter of EU-NATO cooperation, including on training and exercises as well on research & technology. 

“EU-NATO competition is a thing of the past,” said EDA Chief Domecq. “A stronger European Union is a stronger NATO, and I am grateful to ASG Missiroli for an engaging discussion on areas of common interest such cyber, which I am confident will yield concrete results and lead to closer EU-NATO cooperation.” 

Merle Maigre, Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, visited the European Defence Agency today for a meeting with EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq.
 

Merle Maigre (Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence), Jorge Domecq (Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency)

 
Ms Maigre and Mr Domecq discussed cyber defence and the EDA Chief briefed the CCDCOE Director on recent development in EU cyber defence, notably on the launch last month of the Cyber Defence Education, Training, Exercise & Evaluation Platform,  led by the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) and building on the support already provided by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission. EDA played an important role in developing the design proposal of this platform, following the results of a relevant feasibility study which were properly adapted to the actual Member States’ needs.

The EDA Chief Executive declared “Improving our cyber defence is a challenge for the EU, NATO and their Member States. Cooperation between EDA, NATO and the CCDCOE must continue to deliver the best possible training and exercises to our Member States.” 

“In the coming days, CCDCOE and EDA will celebrate five years of formal cooperation. On this occasion I would like to recognize the tangible results we have achieved together in training European cyber defenders, from international law lectures to operational issues, from strategic level cyber defence exercises to the world’s biggest international technical exercises,” said Merle Maigre, Director of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

 

Plenary session, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

EDA is committed to equality, one of the fundamental values on which the European Union is built. This includes equality of opportunity and treatment and zero tolerance towards all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment and any form of gender-based violence in the workplace. 

EDA achieves its mission through the contribution of its diverse workforce, men and women, civilian and military, from different national and cultural backgrounds and tolerates no discrimination on the grounds of age, race, political, philosophical or religious conviction, sex or sexual orientation disability, marital status or family situation.

 

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Steven Vandeput, the Defence Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium, visited the European Defence Agency today where he was welcomed by EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq.

A wide range of topics related to European defence cooperation were discussed, including the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the European Defence Fund (EDF) as well as the update of the Capability Development Plan (CDP).

Belgium’s role and participation in EDA projects were also discussed during the visit. Minister Vandeput was presented with detailed updates on a range of ongoing projects including on the development of new generation of Maritime Mine Countermeasures as well as on collaborative training for RPAS operators of which one participating training site is in Florennes, Belgium.

Minister Vandeput underlined the important role of the EDA in support of its Member States: “I believe that EDA is actively supporting its Member States in the development of military capabilities that are needed to bolster Europe’s defences. Belgium is happy to cooperate with the EDA where it can.”

EDA Chief Jorge Domecq thanked Minister Vandeput for his visit and Belgium’s involvement in the Agency’s activities. “With Belgium actively participating in a wide range of defence cooperation projects and activities, through the EDA or in other bi- and multinational fora, it demonstrates that it firmly believes that today’s defence and security challenges cannot be tackled in isolation”, said Jorge Domecq.  

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Jorge Domecq, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA) and Alexander Stubb, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation between the two institutions.

The European Council of 19 October 2017 encouraged the EIB to examine further steps with a view to supporting investments in defence research and development activities. As a response, the EIB recently approved the European Security Initiative - Protect, Secure, Defend, strengthening its support for RDI for dual-use technologies, cybersecurity and civilian security infrastructure. Today the EIB and EDA teamed up to support EU policy objectives, in particular as regards the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The cooperation between the two entities materialises as major European initiatives supporting the EU level of ambition in the area of security and defence are launched, including a European Defence Fund.

As a first step, EDA and the EIB envisage cooperation in the Cooperative Financial Mechanism (CFM). The CFM is foreseen as a mechanism for EDA Member States to financially support the set up and conduct of the development of military technology. The EIB role in the CFM would focus on supporting the development of dual use technologies. Additionally, the two organisations agreed to exchange expertise, in particular with a view to identify possible financing opportunities for defence and security-related Research and Technology projects in support of EDA participating Member States. EDA stands ready to support the EIB in identifying projects, that are potentially eligible for its assistance; this could include both projects promoted by the Member States, such as those in the context of the recently launched Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), as well as projects promoted by companies including Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the defence and security sector. 

“European security and defence is high on the agenda of decision-makers and citizens alike. EDA and EIB have complementary expertise and are natural partners. The Agency will support the EIB in the identification and assessment of projects as well as by putting its defence expertise at the service of the Bank”, said Jorge Domecq. 

“Under the European Security Initiative - Protect, Secure, Defend, the EIB is ready to step up its support to the security and defence sector. In line with our mission, we look forward to supporting in particular investment projects that target dual-use technologies, which can be commercialised also in civilian applications”, said EIB Vice-President Alexander Stubb. “Today’s cooperation agreement is welcome news for Europe’s security as it will help the European Defence Agency and the European Investment Bank to better contribute to EU policy goals”. 

Cooperative Financial Mechanism

The Cooperative Financial Mechanism (CFM) will play an important role in easing the launch phase of cooperative projects. Designed to support any type of collaborative efforts, in the R&T, R&D or acquisition phase, its support will include access to funding, a well-known shortfall hampering cooperative efforts, as well as the reduction of bureaucracy. It will result in an increased quality of public expenditures. 

The Mechanism, developed as an EDA ad hoc Category A programme, is voluntary. Member States decide if they wish to participate, contribute and support projects. 

Once negotiations on the Programme Arrangement are finalised, the CFM is likely to be based on two pillars. In the first, intergovernmental, Member States will have the opportunity to mutually support via a system of reimbursable advances and deferred payments. In the second, the European Investment Bank will act as the sole lender, supporting dual use projects in line with its policies. This will enable an increased support from EIB to the security and defence agenda, an objective underlined several times by the European Council. 

More information:

• European Investment Bank

EU Member States last week agreed to commence work on a platform to provide Member States with education, training, exercise and evaluation (ETEE) services in the field of cyber security/defence.  The platform will be led by the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) and will build on the support already provided by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission.

The main task of the ETEE platform within the ESDC is the coordination of cyber security and defence training and education for EU Member States. The existing training will be harmonised and standardised and new courses will close the gaps between training needs and training activities. These efforts will be jointly undertaken by various stakeholders and partner organisations.

In response to Member States’ requirement to fill the skills gap in cyber defence, EDA played an important role in developing the design proposal of this platform, following the results of a relevant feasibility study which were properly adapted to the actual Member States’ needs.

The ESDC will liaise closely with the EEAS, the Commission and EDA on the implementation. EDA will seek to migrate existant initiatives on education, training and exercises to the ETEE platform for sustained delivery into the future; a prime example is the increasingly well-established Cyber Strategic Decision Making Exercise. The ESDC will also seek synergies with respective NATO initiatives, also in the frame of the implementation of the EU-NATO Joint Declaration.

The cyber platform is planned to reach initial operating capability by 1 September 2018.  Meanwhile, staff will be recruited and an initial training catalogue drafted.  The full operational capability of the platform is planned to be announced in April 2019.
 

More information: 

• Cyber defence (EDA project page)
• ESDC statement on Cyber Platform

 

 

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Providing support to CSDP operations is a core task of the EDA which, since its creation in 2004, has developed tools to provide administrative, contracting and/or technical support to EU-led missions and operations whenever they face capability shortfalls in crucial domains. 

Situational awareness, which presupposes the availability of appropriate information gathering and intelligence management capabilities, is one of such domains. As EU or Member States’ military operations or civilian missions are often deployed on very short notice, putting these capabilities in place often constitutes a challenge. Tactical or medium altitude long endurance (MALE) type Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), are critical assets in this respect with their ability to provide permanent and all weather coverage with high quality sensors. 

Turn-key solutions

In order to prepare for future decisions to be taken in that area, the EDA decided to launch a market survey to better understand the range of commercially available solutions which could fulfil possible future requirements for RPAS services in operations, as well as their potential associated risks or limitations. At this stage, the primary scope of the survey is the provision of RPAS services (tactical and/or MALE) covering the aircraft, ground segments (both ground control station and ground data terminal),navigation and communications. Personnel, training facilities as well as logistic support are also considered as being part of the ‘RPAS services’ addressed under the survey.

It should be underlined that the objective of this survey is to identify service providers of turn-key solutions and not manufacturers or suppliers of assets.

 

Full details on the aim, scope and participating rules are available here.

 

Deadline for participation is 31 March 2018.

Plenary session and committee meetings in Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

In this press kit you will find a selection of press releases from the European Parliament that show MEP’s priorities and what they have been pushing for in relation to the topics on the summit agenda, as well as contact details of the MEPs involved. All documents and resolutions printed in the press kit, plus additional information, can be found on the European Parliament’s website.

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

In this press kit you will find a selection of press releases from the European Parliament that show MEP’s priorities and what they have been pushing for in relation to the topics on the summit agenda, as well as contact details of the MEPs involved. All documents and resolutions printed in the press kit, plus additional information, can be found on the European Parliament’s website.

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Delegations

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

Plenary session in Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP

The European Defence Agency (EDA) held a workshop on capability development trends in Maritime Surveillance on 1 February as part of a more structured dialogue between Member States and industry.

More than 50 representatives from Member States, industry and other institutions shared information on capability development for Maritime Surveillance. Based on a call for papers issued in October 2017, nine industries were selected to present their views in three panels dedicated to mid-term, long-term and industry & market perspectives on maritime surveillance.

The workshop is part of the EDA’s approach towards establishing a structured dialogue and enhanced engagement with industry, based on a set of priority actions derived through the Capability Development Plan (CDP) and the recent Maritime Research Agenda contributing to the implementation of the European Maritime Security Strategy. The aim of the process is to enrich the CDP long-term views with inputs on the industrial and technological outlook for specific capability areas.

This was the second workshop in this format, following the one addressing Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) which was held on 12 September 2017.  Feedback received on these two workshops will be taken into account in envisaging additional workshops with industry participation in the second semester, once the EU capability development priorities resulting from the on-going CDP revision will have been agreed by Member States. 

 

More information:

• Capability Development Plan
  
  
  

Source : © European Union, 2018 - EP