German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced at a virtual press conference on Thursday 2 July that the German EU Council Presidency wants to strengthen the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
“A strong CSDP must be capable of ensuring security in Europe, whatever the crisis we find ourselves in, and at some point in time [enable us] to assume our responsibility in the world”, she explained.
The Presidency is thus putting forward three priorities for the next six months, “so that the EU can act decisively when its security and interests are at stake”. First of all, this will involve increasing the EU’s resilience. And according to Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer, “a truly resilient Europe can only be resilient in the framework of close EU/NATO cooperation”. She therefore wishes to improve cooperation between the EU and NATO, in particular on cyber defence, the fight against disinformation and military mobility (see EUROPE 12503/22).
Germany also wants to strengthen the EU’s ability to act as a stakeholder in foreign and security policy. According to Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated certain tensions and conflicts, and this only makes the EU’s involvement in the world more important.
Mrs Kramp-Karrenbauer intends to use her country’s Presidency to strengthen common capabilities, develop better coordination in terms of equipment procurement, make the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) more effective, and enhance digital resilience. According to the Presidency’s programme, other priorities include promoting the coherence of all EU defence initiatives, the full implementation of the pact for the development of the civil CSDP and, in cooperation with the European External Action Service, work on the Strategic Compass. “Germany will set up a European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management in Berlin with the aim of developing conceptual standards and recommendations for civilian crisis management operations”, the document also states.
The Minister also aspires to conclude two dossiers before the end of the year: the question of the participation of non-Member States in permanent structured cooperation projects (see EUROPE 12513/20) and the implementation of the European Peace Facility.
See the programme of the German Presidency: https://bit.ly/2Bmnhcl (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)