At their summit on 23 October, European leaders are expected to urge EU Member States to make progress on their defence capabilities, both in the short term and in the longer term, up to 2030 (see EUROPE 13732/1).
“We are seeing the implementation of an overall approach, with governance, emergency measures and financial and industrial resources”, summarised one European diplomat.
According to its draft conclusions of 21 October (https://aeur.eu/f/j2w ), the European Council considers that the immediate threats to the EU’s eastern flank and the provision of concrete support to Member States should be addressed “as a matter of priority”. To meet the most immediate needs, work should focus on specific projects to strengthen Member States’ joint efforts to improve their anti-drone and air defence capabilities “in a coordinated manner, in particular making full use of SAFE (...) and other relevant existing financial instruments”. Given the threats they face, the EU’s other borders must be defended, added the European Council.
In the longer term, the leaders are urging Member States to operationalise the work being carried out in all the priority capability areas that have been identified “on the basis of a coherent overall approach”, to finalise the process of setting up capability coalitions in these areas by the end of 2025 and to make progress on specific projects to be launched in the first half of 2026.
The European Council believes that Member States should increasingly focus their defence investment on joint development, production and procurement. It is calling on the European Commission to present new simplification proposals “as soon as possible” and is calling for an agreement by the end of the year on the omnibus legislation that has already been presented.
The EU Council is tasked with strengthening the European Defence Agency and reporting back on the necessary measures by the end of 2025.
European leaders are calling for the accelerated joint development of space assets and services that serve security and defence objectives, and for the protection of existing assets.
Finally, they are calling on the European Commission to present a roadmap for the transformation of the defence industry and new proposals on military mobility. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)