The Director General of the European Defence Agency (EDA), André Denk, presented his agency’s proposals for consolidating its role to journalists, including Agence Europe, on Wednesday 10 December, as requested by the European Council in October. These proposals were discussed at the Board meeting on 1 December, and the aim is to present a ‘roadmap’ next spring.
The first is to develop the Agency’s defence procurement function, by supporting group purchasing and procurement from external suppliers. According to one European source, there is strong interest, particularly among the smaller Member States, in joint procurement through the EDA, whereas the larger States have their own procurement agencies. But to consolidate this role, the Agency needs to strengthen its management team. According to an EU source, the EDA acquisition unit has 15 staff, compared with 11,000 for the German agency and more than 10,000 for the French agency. “The question is therefore what Member States are prepared to spend on EDA. When you’re talking about complex weapons systems and aircraft, you can’t do it with ten people. We can’t even get there with fifty”, warned this source.
The aim is also to consolidate the Agency’s role in developing Member States’ capabilities, in particular through the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the Annual Readiness Report. The report could be submitted next autumn.
The Agency also wants to step up its role in research, technology and innovation - by developing the ‘Hub for European Defence Innovation’ (HEDI) to better link short-term innovations to military end-users. “Innovation is a very important issue for the present and for the future, and also operational commanders at the frontline in Ukraine will tell you that it’s a war between Ukrainian innovators and Russian engineers”, explained Mr Denk.
To fulfil its remit, the EDA, which currently has 230 employees, is calling for an internal reorganisation, with adequate additional resources.
Finally, the European Defence Agency stresses the need to capitalise on existing and potential partnerships. “Canada recently asked the EDA to begin negotiations on an administrative agreement”, announced Mr Denk. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)