This year’s EDA (European Defence Agency) Annual Conference “Defence Matters” gathered more than 500 high level participants from government, military, and industry, making it the only comprehensive rendez-vous on European defence.
In her welcoming address, Claude-France Arnould (photo), Chief Executive of the EDA outlined the importance of implementing the tasks given at the European Council in December 2013. She called on those present in the room to seize the opportunity and ensure that the implementation was there to follow the political will (download speech here).
Greek Minister of Defence Dimitris Avramopoulos, representing the current EU Presidency underlined in his keynote speech the importance of defence as a critical pillar for European cohesion, stability, and growth. He equally addressed the need for more defence cooperation to tackle common threats to Europe’s stability and called for an enhanced role for the EDA (download speech here).
Representing the upcoming Presidency of the EU, Italian Under Secretary of Defence General Domenico Rossi warned of the threats to industry and technological innovation from budget cuts and reinforced the importance of the EU Council in December.
During the first roundtable Ine Eriksen Søreide, Norwegian Minister of Defence, General Patrick de Rousiers, Chairman of the EU Military Committee, General Sverker Göranson, Swedish Chief of Defence, Tim Rowntree, Director of OCCAR and Alexander Vershbow, NATO Deputy Secretary General discussed ways for Europe to provide for future defence capabilities. The panelists agreed that cooperation – whether regional or European – was indeed the way forward but that more coordination, transparency, and trust were needed to create the necessary shift in mind-sets (more information here).
The main question addressed during the second roundtable was how to keep a cutting-edge European defence industry. The panellists from industry, politics, and academia concluded that industry needed programs, a clear outlook on future requirements and that the artificial line between civil and military research should be abandoned (more information here).
An interesting free debate with representatives of European defence think tanks and academia opened the afternoon session and discussed unconventional ideas on how the EDA could be used to its full. Catherine Ashton, Head of the EDA then gave a powerful keynote address on the continuing importance of sound defence capabilities to underpin the Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (speech available here).
The final panel of the 2014 conference including Claude-France Arnould,Pieter de Crem, Belgian Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Defence (speech available here) and Polish Senator Bogdan Klich addressed the issue of the future of European defence.
