Under the new chairmanship of Lieutenant General Erhard Bühler, Capability Directors met today at the European Defence Agency for their biannual Steering Board meeting. In the presence of General Mikhail Kostarakos, Chairman of the EU Military Committee and General Denis Mercier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), Directors exchanged views on stimulating defence cooperation and were briefed on progress in a number of key capability projects. Decisions were also taken in order to boost EDA’s work on space, earth observation and military radio-navigation policy.
In his update, Jorge Domecq, EDA Chief Executive, first thanked the previous chairman Admiral Martínez Nuñez, Director General of Defence Policy at the Spanish Ministry of Defence, for his impactful chairmanship before welcoming Lieutenant General Bühler, Director General for Planning at the German Ministry of Defence, in this role. Mr Domecq briefed the audience among others on the forthcoming Global Strategy and its potential impact on defence, the roadmap for the Preparatory Action on CSDP-related research, on incentives for defence cooperation as well as on EDA’s work in support to CSDP operations. Leading Member States also briefed participants on the status of the four key capability programmes (air-to-air refuelling, cyber defence, GovSatCom, and RPAS).
General Mercier joined Capability Directors for a lively exchange of views on ways to stimulate defence cooperation demonstrating the good interaction between the Agency and ACT in areas of common interest.
One key point of the meeting’s rich agenda was a discussion on the possible replication of the EATC cooperation model for other multinational cooperation projects. This follows a tasking from the European Council in December 2013, reminded by the Foreign Affairs Council in May 2015. Capability Directors also received an initial briefing by the Agency on the table-top exercise on hybrid warfare which was held from 9 to 11 March at the Agency.
EDA’s Steering Board also attracted high-level Commission representation by Director General DG MARE Juan Aguiar Machado and Director General DG Mobility and Transport Henrik Hololei. Both confirmed the good level of cooperation between the European Commission and the Agency on the implementation of wider EU policies with relevance to defence such as the EU Maritime Security Strategy and SES/SESAR.