The Portuguese Defence Minister, João Gomes Cravinho, announced, on Tuesday 13 October, that Portugal, which will take over the Presidency of the EU Council on 1 January 2021, intends to work on the European Security and Defence Identity.
“One of the main issues of our Presidency will be to keep up the momentum on this around the notion of European Security and Defence Identity, and I think the work on the strategic compass is very important towards that”, he explained in a debate entitled “Beyond hard security: towards a broader concept of strategic autonomy”, organised by Friends of Europe.
Mr Gomes Cravinho said that the EU's maritime dimension has been neglected until now. “During our Presidency, I hope that we will be able to contribute a little to this dimension, in particular with the development of a coordinated maritime presence” in the Gulf of Guinea from the beginning of 2021, he explained. If it works, it could pave the way for other coordinated maritime presences around the world.
The minister also said that the Covid-19 pandemic had highlighted new vulnerabilities for the EU, whether in terms of hybrid threats, cyber security or climate change, and these threats need to lead to “much stronger and much better civil-military cooperation”.
According to Mr Cravinho Gomes, more should be done to integrate climate change into CSDP missions and the military should work more closely with the Civil Protection Mechanism at EU level.
The Minister of Defence recalled that the objective was to have a European Defence Identity that is fully harmonised with NATO, which strengthens the Alliance. For him, the EU and NATO can strengthen their operational cooperation, particularly in Africa. Thus, if the EU is more present than NATO in the Sahel or the CAR, notably through its missions and operations, NATO could help in terms of military means. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)