Athens, 21/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU member states defence ministers spent the first day of their two-day meeting in Athens on Thursday 20 February discussing the December 2013 European summit's conclusions document on the common defence and security policy (ESDP), focussing on defining a common maritime security strategy. The deputy secretary general of the European diplomatic corps (EEAS), Maciej Popowski, unveiled an initial draft of the strategy, which is to be the subject of a joint European Commission-EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy statement. The final version will be unveiled in the first few days of March and is expected to be adopted ahead of the European summit in June 2014.
The meeting opened with unanimous praise for the report on the ESDP by EU heads of state in December. Each speaker had a positive assessment to make of the report, but was aware, as Greek Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos put it, that it was an ambitious agenda and plenty still needed to be done over the next few months to put the report into action. He explained the importance of the EU's maritime security strategy for the Greek Presidency, but as Popowski pointed out, there will be very intense debate before the strategy is adopted. He said a number of ministers had expressed their views on the matter, in particular Italy's Defence Minister Mario Mauro, and Portuguese Defence Minister José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
The ministers discussed areas of research, dual-use technology and support for the defence industry, including for small businesses. Daniel Calleja, Director General for Industry at the European Commission, said the meeting had revealed a “strong dynamic” among ministers to work to boost the industrial and technological base for European defence.
Avramopoulos highlighted at the final press conference on 21 February the work carried out by the European Defence Agency (EDA) on cooperation projects on in-flight refuelling; drones; communication satellites; and cyberdefence. He said that what was at stake was European countries' military capabilities, and the question would also be important for the NATO summit in September. At the meeting, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the EUs' clear commitment to pay greater attention to defence issues.
The question of tactical battlegroups was brought up at the meeting. Swedish Defence Minister Karin Enström said a genuine tactical debate was needed this year to make the battlegroups fully useable. She expressed frustration at the fact that it was not possible to send the tactical battlegroups to the Central African Republic. The United Kingdom took advantage of the debate to announce its plans to contribute to the tactical battlegroup in the second half of 2016. (JK/transl.fl)