What should the European Union and its Member States do if its energy production and transport infrastructure were attacked by hostile groups in a region where like-minded, democratic countries coexisted with unfriendly authoritarian regimes? What if vulnerable critical energy infrastructure was essential for defence?
As the European Defence Agency contributes to EU security, EDA organised on May 25-26 its hybrid threats tabletop exercise in Bulgaria, bringing together more than 80 experts from different European countries, institutions and organisations.
Conducted under the third phase of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS III), EDA and the European Commission Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) also presented a new study on enhancing the resilience of defence-related critical energy infrastructure (CEI) against hybrid threats.
The study found that armed forces must consider a new set of combined and blurred threats that can impair their operational effectiveness in war and peace.
That scenario was also tested in the tabletop exercise, hosted by the Bulgarian Defence Institute (BDI), under the auspices of the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence. In a fictitious scenario where an imaginary country threatens stability around a critical waterway with both non-renewable and renewable energy resources, EU countries and their partners needed to protect their energy supplies and advance their interests.
The tabletop exercise is part of efforts to develop the EU’s longer-term resilience, imagining a situation of a synchronised and deliberate attack on democratic states and their institutions. The exercise relied on a simulation involving fictional hostile states as well as criminal and para-military organisations who sought to undermining or damage targets through direct attacks and covert means.
Different European ministries, EU institutions, the Helsinki Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (HCoE) and experts from industry and academia aimed to better understand hybrid threats, including new tactics and targets and strengthen the resilience of defence-related critical energy infrastructure. They also plan to provide the ministries of defence recommendations and develop awareness about the role individuals, civil society and companies can play in building resilience to hybrid threats.
“This tabletop exercise hosted in Sofia is a rare opportunity to encourage collaboration between European stakeholders in defence and civilian sectors. It helps deepen our shared understanding of how hybrid threats can impact critical energy infrastructure and subsequently compromise our armed forces' operational effectiveness", said Radostin Iliev, Director of the Defence Policy Directorate at the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence.
Jiří Šedivý, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency, said: “The exercise allows us to take advantage of diverse perspectives in developing comprehensive solutions to bolster defence energy resilience.”
Georgios Giannopoulos, Deputy Director Space, Security and Migration Directorate at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, said: “It is one of these moments where science, strategic thinking and operational capabilities are beautifully bundled together”.
The Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) is a European Commission-funded initiative managed by the EDA. This forum was established to create a defence energy-related community to share information, knowledge and best practices on improving energy management, increasing energy efficiency and building performance, utilising renewable energy sources in the defence sector and enhancing the resilience of defence-related critical energy infrastructure.
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On 23 May, EU Ministers of Defence met in the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board under the chairmanship of High Representative Borrell in his capacity as Head of the Agency.
The HRVP updated ministers about the signature of the Administrative Arrangement between the European Defence Agency and the US Department of Defense (DoD), as well as the second edition of the European Defence Innovation Days (31 May - 1 June 2023, Brussels) which will focus on the challenges and opportunities in connecting technological innovation and capability development.
Ministers then exchanged views on capability implications of the war in Ukraine, based a comprehensive analysis conducted by EDA experts, in view of the upcoming revision of the EU Capability Development Priorities foreseen in November.
For the first time since the creation of EDA and since Denmark joined EDA in March 2023, the EDA Steering Board gathered all 27 EU Member States.
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The Council has adopted a fifth wave of collaborative projects within the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) framework, with 11 new projects and a total of 15 Member States participating. The projects cover six military domains and include critical capabilities such as munitions, counter artillery and medium-size helicopter. The updated list of projects under PESCO now stands at 68.
OPERATIONAL FOCUSThe new projects adopted in the fifth wave will help increase the coherence of the European capability landscape and deliver operational benefits for European Armed Forces. Projects range from the development of new military capabilities and the identification of future needs in areas such as future military rotorcrafts and air-launched missiles, to communication infrastructure and joint training for defence airlift. The 11 new projects cover six military domains: training (1) land (2), maritime (3), air (2), cyber/C4ISR (2) and joint, enabling (1) and will be led by seven different Member States as project coordinators.
High Representative/Head of the Agency, Josep Borrell, said: “Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its military implications, including the requirements for high-intensity warfare, these new PESCO projects aim at delivering critical capabilities with a more operational focus. We cannot build a stronger European defence without ensuring European armed forces are ready and well-equipped for future challenges. Today PESCO is moving forward and by 2025 over 50 projects will reach their delivery phase, enhancing the EU’s defence cooperation and the EU’s ability to act.”
CRITICAL DEFENCE CAPABILITIESThe six participating Member States are: Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, and Sweden. An initial project timeline for the collection and harmonisation of requirements will run until 2024 with a possible agreement on a common procurement foreseen in 2028.
The NGMH will ensure the availability and suitability of EU helicopter fleets until 2040 and the preparation of the European Next Generation Rotorcraft, including the ability to face high intensity conflicts. The project launch and execution year is planned for 2023, with four participating Member States: France, Italy, Finland and Sweden.
France and Netherlands are the two participating Member States. CoBaS will deliver the newest set of capabilities, benefitting from the emerging technologies and adapted to new threats that are linked to the performance of effective artillery systems developed by 2030-2035.
EDA Chief Executive, Jiří Šedivý, said: “These new 11 projects reflect Member States’ interaction during the last CARD process as well as their intention to better coordinate defence planning and capability development practices. They also stimulate the PESCO process by delivering next generation capabilities in different domains that require a joint effort at the EU level. EDA supports fifteen PESCO projects and stands ready to support its Member States going forward.”
PESCO WELCOMES DENMARK AND CLOSES THREE PROJECTSOn 23 May 2023, the Council confirmed that the participation of Denmark in PESCO, several weeks after Denmark joined the EDA.
Furthermore, three PESCO projects have closed earlier in 2023: Indirect Fire Support (EuroArtillery), EU Test and Evaluation Centres (EUTEC) and Co-basing, and three other projects are in the closing phase. As of today, 68 PESCO projects are on-going, 47 of the projects will reach the execution phase up to 2025. Out of them, 21 projects have already reached that phase and it can be expected that 26 more projects will follow until 2025.
BACKGROUND
EDA Chief Executive, Jiří Šedivý, continued his visits to EU Member States with a series of high-level meetings and industry engagements in Latvia on 17 and 18 May.
In Riga, Jiří Šedivý participated in the National Armed Forces’ Industry Day, where he took part in a panel discussion focusing on the role of the industry in securing military logistics and reserves. In his intervention where he explained the EU’s three-track initiative on ammunition, he stressed that “the actual orders are key if we want to speed up the production and delivery of ammunition, only contracts will create binding legal commitments triggering investments”.
He met with Ms. Ināra Mūrniece, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, Lt.Gen. Leonīds Kalniņš, Commander of the National Armed Forces, Mr. Jānis Garisons, State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, to discuss EU initiatives in support to Ukraine, as well as planned measures to strengthen the European defense industry and Latvia’s participation in European Defence Agency’s activities and projects.
EDA’s Chief Executive also visited two innovative defense SMEs and discussed about their cooperation experiences, including participation in the EU defence initiatives: Brasa, a manufacturer of tactical clothing, equipment and military personnel support systems; and Exonicus, a developer of virtual reality trauma and CBRN Simulator. Exonicus will have a stand at the European Defence Innovation Days in Brussels on 31 May – 1 June.
The visit in Latvia was an excellent opportunity to present and exchange views on EDA’s ongoing activities and main milestones in 2023, including the upcoming revision of the Capability Development Plan, the organization of the second European Defence Innovation Days in Brussels, and the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine or/and the replenishment of national stocks.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) managed Incubation Forum for Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED) has unveiled a series of project ideas that have so far been incubated within the forum, namely; circularity of titanium for armour via additive manufacturing, prototype of defence digital product passport, implementation of a SCIP (Substances of Concern In complex Products) database for defence exemptions, and green knowledge platform for defence are among the key examples.
Circular economy is one of the building blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s agenda for sustainable growth. By acknowledging the need for armed forces to mitigate their carbon footprint, IF CEED aims at implementing circularity principles in European Defence via concrete transnational projects that, beyond environmental benefits, also bring further operational efficiency to the military.
EDA’s IF CEED 2nd General Conference (15-17 May 2023, Madrid, Spain), brought together 135 representatives from 20 European countries. Opening the event, EDA Director for Industry, Synergies and Enablers Emilio Fajardo, stressed both IF CEED’s contribution to the EU green transition and how circularity is an enabler for “our primary focus: the effectiveness and the operational efficiency of European defence capabilities”.
Transnational project incubationSince October 2021, a network of several hundred experts has been working within nine thematic project incubators, called “Project Circles”, covering domains such as critical raw materials, additive manufacturing, green procurement, spare parts management and eco-design of defence capabilities.
Developed over the past 19 months, the collaborative and transnational project ideas incubated within IF CEED were presented to the audience. Their concepts address all nine areas and cover both technological and organisational aspects. Their ambition is to improve visibly the level of circularity in defence by e.g.: closing the loop of materials for green products, adopting new approaches for ecodesign, disseminating best practices for EMAS and green procurement, testing digital passports for circular management of products, elaborating on defence-specific GPP criteria, recycling/re-using/recovering high value fibers from soldier equipment.
Additionally, overarching cases have been identified, such as methodologies and tools for environmental evaluation in defence or the contribution of circularity to the European strategic autonomy: a transversal and cross-fertilising approach among the nine IF CEED Project Circles, liaising their respective experts and igniting synergies.
Way ahead: From incubation to implementationReflecting on the outcome of this IF CEED “Phase I”, the presentations during the conference illustrate the ongoing work translating the designed projects into actual products and initiatives.
Funding supporting the actual implementation of the project ideas so far incubated have been addressed by the European Commission’s Directorate-Generals for Environment (as to the European Union’s LIFE programme) and for Defence Industry and Space (as to the European Defence Fund).
BackgroundWith the intervention of the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Spain and the collaboration of FEINDEF (International Defence and Security Exhibition), IF CEED Conference welcomed representatives from Ministries of Defence, industry, research-and-technology organisations, universities, together with key European players, as the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) with the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ECESP), the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) with its Task Force Green Defence.
The concluding plenaries of the IF CEED 2nd Conference have been integrated into the official programme of the opening day of the FEINDEF Foundation’s International Defence and Security Exhibition 2023, attended by over 450 exhibitors from 20 countries and 100 foreign delegations.
FEINDEF is a reference event that encompasses the defence and security sector, to innovate, cooperate internationally and share knowledge among companies and institutions. The hosting by FEINDEF of the final stock-taking sessions of the IF CEED Conference has represented a reciprocal acknowledgement of the respective relevance of the two endeavors and highly increased the visibility of Circular Economy in European Defence.
What is IF CEED?The Incubation Forum for Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED) gathers experts from 29 countries in Europe to exploit circularity principles for the defence sector by incubating concrete and transnational project ideas. Co-funded by the EU LIFE programme and the Directorate of Defence of Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, IF CEED is a programme managed by the European Defence Agency (EDA).
EDA’s activities in “Green Defence”