The EDA is
already at
the heart of
multinational
capability
development.
April 2020 Revista Española de Defensa 51
Agencia Europea de Defensa
operator for the management of defence activities funded by EU
budget. The Agency has also become the guardian of coherence
of these initiatives by establishing EU priorities in the field of military
capabilities and technological research.
Close cooperation between governments and EU institutions,
entities and organisations is also paramount for the correct func-tioning
of these new cooperation tools. So far, the Council, the EU
Military Committee, the EEAS, the EU Military Staff, the European
Commission and the EDA have all managed to work jointly and in
the same direction.
SHARING THE LOAD
Looking ahead, it is vital that Member States
continue to have a clear view of the areas on
which EDA’s work should focus. The Agen-cy’s
Long Term Review (LTR) carried out in
2017, was crucial in this sense. Thanks to
this exercise, the EDA was strengthened as
a real planning and prioritisation instrument.
It also confirmed the Agency as Europe’s
natural centre for the development of de-fence
capabilities in a collaborative manner.
Finally, the LTR highlighted the role of the
EDA as the voice of the military community
with regard to EU policies having defence implications.
Such clarity on who does what is essential in the European ins-
titutional framework. However, it is even more important since the
European Commission decided to establish a Directorate-General
for “Defence Industry and Space” in order to manage the European
Defence Fund. The Commission’s involvement in defence-related
issues, together with its financial power through the EDF, will con-stitute
a powerful incentive to launch new multinational capability
projects. If these projects respond to real Defence priorities and
are well planned and managed, they will be able to improve the
European defence landscape and, simultaneously, strengthen its
technological and industrial base.
The utmost attention must be paid to three aspects when pro-moting
EU defence initiatives: first, preventing duplication of work,
tools and existing structures. Responsibilities must be defined un-ambiguously.
For instance, defence policy should remain as an in-tergovernmental
responsibility, with national Ministries of Defence
at the forefront of its definition. Likewise, the task of prioritising and
planning capabilities should also remain the responsibility of Mem-ber
States, developing cooperation at European level by using the
EU’s new defence cooperation tools I referred to earlier.
Second, the Union’s new cooperation tools
(CARD, PESCO, EDF) must be used and ap-plied
in a coherent and results-oriented manner,
paying special attention to the capability develop-ment
priorities agreed by the European Union
in the Capability Development Plan (CDP). The
Agency must play a critical role in all this.
And finally, Member States must genuine-ly
and seriously commit themselves to using
these new European tools in the planning
of their national defence and in the capab-
ility development on which it is based. Otherwise, even the most
well-intentioned cooperation efforts will fail to deliver the expected
results. This would be a huge missed opportunity affecting the role
the European Union wishes to play on the global stage.
Let me conclude on an optimistic note. The Europe of Defence is
taking shape. We are on the right track. However, it will still be a long
journey. In order to succeed, it will be increasingly necessary to use
EDA’s technical expertise and proven experience in promoting and
facilitating technological cooperation and capability projects. I trust that
Member States will be aware of this and use it accordingly. L