European security in 2022: the ‘year of defence’?

On 23 November 2021, the EU Institute for Security Studies and the Direction générale des relations internationales et de la stratégie (DGRIS), French Ministry of the Armed Forces, organised an online seminar to discuss the way forward for EU security and defence in 2022.

The seminar began with a keynote speech by DGRIS Director General Alice Guitton and this was followed by a panel session bringing together senior representatives from the Slovenian Ministry of Defence, the European External Action Service, the European Commission and the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. The panel session was followed by three parallel working groups on space, crisis management and innovation.

This was the seventh such seminar in the series of workshops organised by the EUISS and DGRIS. The seminars are designed to bring together the sitting and incoming Presidency of the Council of the EU and to facilitate an exchange views on the work conducted in the domain of EU security and defence.

Approximately 40 think tank, government and institutional representatives engaged in the latest debate which focused on the path towards the adoption of the Strategic Compass in March 2022. In this context, the participants engaged in a discussion about the scope of the document, the continuously evolving threat landscape and the Compass’ implementation.