On Friday 26 February, the European Heads of State and Government stressed their commitment to promoting the EU’s “resilience and preparedness” to deal effectively with all security threats and challenges.
“In the face of increased global instability, the EU needs to take greater responsibility for its security”, the leaders said in a statement, adding that “more strategic course of action” must be pursued and that the EU’s “capacity to act autonomously” must be strengthened.
They therefore commit themselves to deepening security and defence cooperation among Member States, to increasing defence investment and to enhancing the development of civilian and military capabilities and operational readiness within the Union.
To this end, they intend to strengthen the Union’s civilian and military operational engagement, “including through improved force generation, more efficient EU planning and command and a robust implementation of the European Peace Facility, which should be swiftly operationalised”. EU CSDP missions are often understaffed.
Leaders want to make better use of the opportunities for collaboration identified in the Coordinated Annual Defence Review (CARD) and make full use of permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) “to enhance investment, readiness and collaborative capability development”.
They also advocate strengthening Europe’s defence industrial and technological base. In their view, this should be done in particular through the European Defence Fund and by promoting synergies between the civil, defence and space industries, including in the field of artificial intelligence and disruptive technologies. “This should support our resilience in relation to critical technologies and strategic value chains”, the statement specifies. The European leaders call on the Commission to present a technology roadmap by October 2021 “[to boost] technology development and innovation and reducing our strategic dependencies in critical technologies and value chains”.
Finally, the members of the European Council commit themselves to provide for secure European access to global common goods, including space, cyberspace and the high seas, and improved military mobility.
Building resilience in the face of new threats
The European leaders also aim to strengthen Europe’s resilience and responsiveness to cyber security and to improve the framework for crisis management in this area. They therefore want the Commission and the High Representative to report on the implementation of the cyber security strategy by June 2021 (see EUROPE 12624/1). Leaders also call on the EU Council and the European Parliament to make rapid progress on the revised Directive on the security of networks and information systems (NIS 2 Directive).
The European Council also calls for increased cooperation and coordination to prevent and respond to hybrid threats, including disinformation, “inter alia by involving the private sector and relevant international actors”.
Informed by the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, on the work being done to draft an “ambitious Strategic Compass to guide the further implementation of the EU level of ambition in security and defence”, the leaders called on him and the Member States to take forward work on this ‘compass’, using the whole EU toolbox, “with a view to its adoption by March 2022”.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, expressed his satisfaction with Mr Borrell’s proposal. In his view, it “provides a solid basis for developing our security and defence capability, strengthening the synergies between the civil and military dimensions and the European defence technological and industrial base”. For the Latvian Krišjānis Kariņš, this compass will have to reflect both the need for the EU to strengthen itself and the need to work closely with its partners and NATO.
International cooperation
Indeed, if Europeans wanted to strengthen their strategic autonomy, there was no question of abandoning cooperation with the Alliance, quite the contrary. “A strong partnership needs a strong partner. A stronger EU makes NATO stronger”, judged the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
For the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, who took part in part of the discussions, strengthening the transatlantic axis includes strengthening the EU. “Over the past few years we have been able to take cooperation between the EU and NATO to unprecedented levels”, stressed Mr Stoltenberg, who looks forward to continuing to work with the Union on issues such as resilience, cybernetics and combating the effects of climate change. According to a European source, during their discussion, Mr Stoltenberg and the leaders discussed, among other things, EU-NATO cooperation on capacity building, military mobility, hybrid and cyber security threats and challenges in the immediate neighbourhood.
In their conclusions, the leaders express their determination to cooperate closely with NATO—in full respect of the principles set out in the treaties and those agreed by the European Council—and to strengthen the partnership with the UN and key regional partners. They highlighted cooperation with the new US Administration “on a strong and ambitious transatlantic agenda that includes a close dialogue on security and defence”.
At the end of the meeting, the Dutch Prime Minister said it was important for the EU to defend its interests around the world. “To achieve this, close cooperation with NATO and the United States is essential”, he explained.
Leaders committed themselves to returning regularly to security and defence issues at the European Council.
See the conclusions: https://bit.ly/3uxVmN7 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)