Keeping up the momentum on European defence

On 13 June 2018, the EUISS, the Direction générale des relations internationales et de la stratégie (DGRIS) and the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU organised a seminar focusing on EU security and defence. Organised at the French ministry of the armed forces, the seminar looked back over the key successes and lessons identified from the Bulgarian presidency on important dossiers such as Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and the European Defence Fund (EDF). Building on this, the seminar also focused on the forthcoming Austrian presidency of the Council of the EU (July-December 2018) and its priorities in the area of security and defence.

The debate with participants focused on issues such as coordination between PESCO and the EDF, how national defence planning systems are adjusting to the reality of PESCO, strategic communication for EU security and defence and the French ‘European Intervention Initiative’. The audience was comprised of member state and EU officials, military representatives, academics and think tank analysts. Senior representatives from the Bulgarian and Austrian ministeries of foreign affairs and ministries of defence and high-ranking officials from the French armed forces attended the seminar.