The Steering Board of the European Defence Agency examined the development of EU Defence Capabilities

Defence Redefined

17/06/2020

The Steering Board of the European Defence Agency (EDA), composed by the Ministers of Defence, discussed yesterday how to maintain the development of the EU’s capabilities in times of turmoil.

The Ministers underscored the need for further multinational cooperation in capability planning and development to overcome an unprecedented and diverse set of challenges and agreed that the EU’s defence initiatives launched in 2016 should be implemented with more decisiveness than ever before.

They stressed the importance of adhering to the commitments under PESCO, the implementation of the EU’s priorities for capability development, based on the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the full use of the European Defence Fund (EDF) as a strong incentive at EU level. The EU ministers also discussed how to better ensure that Europe has very resilient and responsive armed forces that are able to prevent, locate and respond to many threats and scenarios.

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“Whether we are prepared or not to respond to today’s security threats depends on our ability to pull together our resources and act. Today, more than ever, it is crucial to spend better together, rationalise, strengthen our capabilities and deploy effectively to address crises and promote stability. The EU defence initiatives are in place, but to realise their full potential they must be fully integrated into Member States national defence policies and planning processes” said Joseph Borrell.

Ministers also looked into how the Agency can speed up the process of project generation and implementation at European level, and how it can best support more Member States in cooperative projects and programmes so that these become operational in a timely manner.

The next EDA ministerial Steering Board will take place in November, when the first CARD (Coordinated Annual Review on Defence) Report will be presented. The report will act as a pathfinder to inform future investment decisions on the most promising, most needed and most pressing opportunities for multinational cooperation.

Source: CNA, EDA