In a letter published on 29 May, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Margarita Robles Fernández, Florence Parly and Lorenzo Guerini, the defence ministers of Germany, Spain, France and Italy respectively, call for security and defence cooperation to be strengthened.
In their letter, which is addressed to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and to their counterparts in the 23 other member states, the ministers state that the Covid-19 pandemic highlights the fact that efforts “towards a more integrated, effective and capable European Union in the international sphere” need to be intensified significantly.
The ministers stress that enhancing freedom of action and developing the necessary capabilities is key, and state that the tools and processes launched over the last four years in the strategic, capability and operational domains will therefore have to be strengthened and deepened.
They also believe that it is important to allocate the necessary resources to defence, at both national and EU level, and to strengthen efforts to be able to tackle future crises.
The ministers put forward seven priority areas for action. They include enhancing solidarity and resilience of the EU and the Member States in tackling crises, strengthening the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) as the key framework for European defence cooperation, reinforcing the European Defence Technology and Industrial Base, and enhancing capabilities and reducing critical dependencies.
The Defence Ministers also want to make progress towards a shared assessment of common threats and challenges and how to tackle them, to strengthen European external operational commitment, to improve the coherence of European initiatives, and to develop cooperation with partners, particularly NATO.
To read the letter, go to: https://bit.ly/2AAFDoU (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)