Monday 3 November - Evening Session & Dinner

Evening Session

How coherent is Europe's Security Strategy?

Europe is today more peaceful than ever in its turbulent history, yet it still faces a plethora of threats. Terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, organised crime and the risk of pandemic diseases must be added to the potential repercussions of regional and civil conflicts far beyond Europe’s borders. In the background there are also the uncertainties of energy security and climate change. What is the EU and its member states doing to improve the security of EU citizens and can it be said to have a coherent strategy? How will the European Security Strategy be updated to address these issues?

Speaker's Dinner

Session I

Is the EU's drug trafficking crackdown bearing fruit?

The Lisbon-based Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre - Narcotics (MAOC-N) was launched a year ago as a six-nation anti-drug unit for intercepting illicit shipments. A similar venture, the Centre opérationnel international d’enquêtes et de coordination de lutte anti-drogue dénommé en Méditerranée (CECLAD-M) was also unveiled this January as a Franco-Spanish initiative to combat drug trafficking. What stumbling blocks still stand in the way of a coherent EU anti-drug policy? Do these anti-trafficking efforts fit into broader attempts to improve the EU’s maritime security, and how should these cooperative ventures fit in with FRONTEX and also with Member States’ in the Mediterranean?

Session II - Parallel Sessions

Making Maritime Surveillance a Security Priority

Shipping is among the most international industries – and is also one of the most vulnerable. Accounting for 40% of the world’s fleets the EU is the world’s leading maritime power, yet it seriously lacks effective coordination and cooperation between member states. Are suggestions for a European coastguard, customs agency and surveillance system in the Mediterranean desirable, and how would they fit with Member States’ roles? What lessons are being learned from the FRONTEX agency’s ‘Operation Nautilus 2008’ that could help EU policymakers put together a Mediterranean Security Policy?

Where is Europe Heading on Aerospace Development?

Europe is second only to the US as the world’s largest buyer and producer of military aerospace equipment, and is placing increasing emphasis on collaborative R&D, procurement and manufacture on both European and international levels. With both the commercially and militarily exploitation of space increasing around the world how is Europe likely to define its military capabilities in space? Will new technologies like unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) define the military future of air and space?

Are Cyber Weapons the Shape of Future War?

Cyberwarfare has entered into the collective mind. Behind every cyberattack, we see the work of a cyberterrorist – and yet, no one has ever seen a cyberterrorist and no state has yet experienced a cyber attack on a grand scale. Is cyber warfare therefore a ‘myth’ which reassures (a virtual war) and worries (an electronic “Pearl Harbor”) at the same time? The rare large scale cyber attacks that have taken place to date mainly consist of attacks on external, or “visible” websites, and use classic attack methods (i.e. distributed denial of service attacks). But the highest risk lies in a cyber attack which will affect systems at the centre of key infrastructures, such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems: their growing interconnection with the Internet and the tendency to stick with standard protocol procedures for reasons of cost and interoperability considerably increase the risk. While the United States considers cyber space to be a veritable battlefield, what is the current thinking of the EU and its member states on the numerous challenges in the cyber area: rules of engagement, political viability, recruitment and maintenance of operational conditions, etc?

Session III

What are Europe's Training Strengths and Weaknesses?

The training of security and defence personnel is a key priority for the European Union. The stakes are evident: the best trained personnel, disposing of a common knowledge base are equipped for superior interoperability. Ensuring this interoperability would suggest the creation of a common European security and defence culture is needed as well as knowledge-sharing between EU member states. Shared training efforts for security and defence forces are therefore an efficient way to create an influential common reference centre at the European level. But intentions aside, who should be given responsibility for coordinating European security and defence training programmes? Could the European Defence Agency (EDA) host such a structure? What role for the European Police College (CEPOL)? How best to coordinate training needs? Which are the best programmes currently in existence, and what programmes can we expect in the future? What complimentarily could new programmes find with existing structures in member states or NATO?

End of Conference