SDA co-presidents Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former NATO Secretary General, and Javier Solana, former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy will welcome General James L. Jones, Chair of the Brent Scowcroft Center, Atlantic Council of the United States and formerly US National Security Advisor to President Obama, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and Commandant of the US Marine Corps at a gala dinner to mark the SDA’s 10th anniversary as Brussels’ leading security and defence think-tank on Thursday 24th May 2012. Assembled guests will enjoy lively debates with key personalities and a wide range of high-profile people in an informal and entertaining atmosphere.
Join the brainstorming for a broad discussion in the context of ongoing global financial turmoil and ever-present transnational threats ranging from WMD proliferation to drugs and human trafficking, in forums to include: Capabilities & future technologies • Forging strategic partnerships Crisis management • Facing up to the cyber-challenge • Future leaders
Speaking to an assembly of distinguished guests from across the Brussels security and defence community, General Stéphane Abrial, Commander of NATO’s Supreme Allied Command Transformation, discussed the challenges of force transformation in the current fiscal climate, a challenge he said was “not impossible, it just looks like it”.
Opening Security and Defence Day 2010, Belgian Minister of Defence, Pieter De Crem, explained how the current financial climate of austerity and reduced budgets is encouraging the sharing of resources and better levels of cooperation and interoperability. The recent Anglo-French agreement on naval infrastructure is a clear indication of greater rapprochement between member states on security issues, he said.
On January 22, the SDA will hold the first of its annual Member's Lunches at the Bibliothèque Solvay. This private lunch will serve as a brainstorming opportunity for SDA member's to discuss their own policy priorities as well as the SDA's activities for 2008.
Enrique Mora, Head of Cabinet to Javier Solana and Hendrik Schuwer, Head of Cabinet to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will brief SDA members on upcoming institutional priorities for 2008.
The EU is the world’s leading sea power, accounting for 40% of the world’s fleets, yet the many national and EU agencies with responsibility for aspects of maritime security means that today there is a lack of effective coordination and cooperation among Member States. But an integrated EU approach is slowly developing in areas like maritime safety, through the European Maritime Safety Agency, and a united institutional approach through the European Commission’s green paper consultation process. But how might coordination be improved within the EU? Are EU countries providing enough funding for cross-border research programmes to meet future needs?
The overlap between NATO and the EU’s emerging identity has at times been a contentious feature of both the transatlantic and intra-European political debates. But how justified are these concerns? Are US policymakers aware of the ESDP’s potential for promoting global stability through hard as well as soft power, and what do they think of it? Are the strongest supporters of an independent European military capability beginning to acknowledge that NATO is still a flexible and effective instrument for furthering joint transatlantic interests? Because both the EU and NATO face the same pressures – for a more clearly defined security strategy, a serious shortage of resources and to admit Balkans and Black Sea countries as future members – how much new scope is there for complementary policymaking?
The Finnish EU Presidency is organising together with the Security & Defence Agenda and the European Defence Agency a high-level evening debate in Brussels on November 13. The event will launch a debate on the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Speakers will discuss why the EDTIB is needed for ESDP to be effective, what industrial capacities will be needed in the future, the particular characteristics of the defence sector, and the importance of security of supply and industrial sustainability. The seminar will also discuss Research and Technology, and how to harness the innovative potential of the European industrial base.
Network Centric Capabilities (NCC) promises a new era of military and security technologies. But will these develop piecemeal, or can a planned industrial strategy be envisaged to prevent Europeans from pursuing divergent policies? What are the medium and longer term predictions for NCC systems, what will they cost and can governments afford them? What are leading European countries driving for and what role is Europe anticipating for network enabled technologies for ESDP? Is there a limited value of network centric technologies in ‘asymmetric’ operations, such as Iraq and should Europeans focus more on creating capabilities for a multitude of purposes ranging from traditional military operations and peacekeeping to post-conflict reconstruction and disaster management? How will smaller nations contribute to the development of these capabilities?
What are the prospects for increased two-way trade across the Atlantic in defence equipment and technologies? The EU’s efforts to further a new European Security and Defence Identity, and at the same time revitalize its flagging defence industries, has been seen by some analysts as a move towards a ‘Fortress Europe’ that would be to the detriment of US suppliers. How open does still largely closed US defence procurement need to become if a mutual and balanced market access is to be established. How do major US defence companies assess the outlook for their sales to European governments?
Although the EU is struggling to define a new political agenda in the wake of the “No’s” to the Constitution, Europe is nonetheless making progress in its efforts to improve and increase its defence capabilities. In less than a decade, the idea of a European defence identity has moved from an embryonic project to a military reality, with autonomous military operations successfully carried out in the Balkans and Africa. New initiatives like the EU’s “battlegroups” and the European Defence Agency have reinforced its military commitment.
Space-borne technology holds the answers to many of Europe's most pressing security and counter-terrorism problems. But how hard will it be for major players like the European Space Agency, with limited experience of security issues, to spearhead projects ranging from R&D to interoperability? Are multi-state programmes so difficult to structure and manage that more consideration should be given to single state or bi-lateral programmes? Or does Europe need a new model for operating large, complex space systems?
Difficult choices lay ahead for European nations as they restructure their military forces for out-of-area operations. What kinds of incentives should national capitals devise to encourage accelerated force transformation? How should nations contribute to the greater European force posture? What kinds of defense assets should be pooled? Which capabilities are more suited towards specialization?
Shrinking defence budgets and an increasingly global marketplace mean that both Europe and America need to forger new industrial partnerships. But political tensions and the lack of harmonized requirements need to be tackled if closer cooperation is to become a reality.
Government procurements by the EU and US are marked by a dramatically changing environment on both sides of the Atlantic. This panel will investigate new trends and policies affecting these procurements. Whither protectionism: will we see more or less in high-level strategic thinking in the US and EU? What are the most important trends in defence procurement? Will projects such as the US101 helicopter point the way toward more European participation in the US defence market? What are the rules and are they changing? What role is the European Defence Agency playing in either breaking down trade barriers or becoming a protectionist tool?
The question marks over NATO’s future date right back to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, yet the alliance’s credibility with the public has not waned very much, either in its long-time member countries or in the former communist states that have flocked to join. How deep should any future reforms of NATO penetrate? Does NATO suffer from real shortcomings, or are its problems more of image and perception? With a growing role in confronting international terrorism, how far will NATO’s reach stretch? Can it play a significant role in Middle Eastern or Central Asian security?
The European Commission consultative Green Paper of July 2004 opened a debate on creating a more transparent EU single market for defence equipment. The fledgling European Defence Agency, operational from the beginning of this year, also has a mission to create a European Defence Equipment Market. What is the political state of play on this in EU Member States and in the boardrooms of major defence companies? What ideas are emerging about redefining exemptions from EU single market rules? What role will the European Defence Agency play in defining and implementing a single market for equipment within the Article 296 exemption? And what role will it be playing in developing EU-wide procurement
Recent years have seen a surge of transatlantic partnerships in areas as diverse as missiles, helicopters, warships and weapons and surveillance systems. But do these multi-billion dollar cooperation agreements add up to the “two-way street” in defence trade that NATO’s European and American partners have long pledged to one another? How formidable are protective barriers like technology transfer controls, and what can be done to level them?
How does maritime security fit into current developments of the European Security Strategy? With the days of sea battles long gone, what are Europe’s main maritime security concerns and what capabilities are needed? What role do defence planners see for the navies of EU Member States, and what levels of investment are needed to achieve it? Is naval capability seen as central to the development of both rapid reaction and peacekeeping forces, or is it considered a leftover from the Cold War’s emphasis on safeguarding the Atlantic and world shipping routes? What role should NATO play?
NATO and EU membership have been twin goals of many of the formerly Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. With their accession ambitions satisfied, what will be the newcomers’ impact on the re-shaping of security and defence policies?
Last year’s decision by EU heads of government to set-up a European Defence Agency has raised hopes that Europe is now making a determined effort to address its weaknesses as a military power. Its task will be to identify the shortcomings of Europe’s armed forces and find ways to overcome these. It is also due to help beef-up the R&D effort needed if Europe’s defence industries are to compete technologically with their U.S. rivals. How will the fledgling European Defence Agency go about its tasks, and with what resources and political clout?
The UK and France stand out in the EU as the two most capable of mobilizing combat forces at short notice. Some other European countries spend comparable amounts on their defence budgets, but to much less effect in terms of military capability. This NDA Roundtable will be on the distribution of defence capability costs in Europe and improvement of defence industry cooperation.
There are still many different visions of the new agency’s scope and role. How muscular will it be, with what sort of budget and decision-making arrangements? Will its legal basis enable it to place major contracts? Will it be a pool of new R&D funding to be redistributed nationally, or a tool for identifying and filling capabilities needs? What will Europe’s military needs be in the next decade? If peace-keeping and humanitarian missions are to be the main focus of Europe’s security efforts, either regionally or more globally, what are the implications for capabilities development? How should the European Union’s Rapid Reaction Force by equipped, and what are cost implications of these choices?
In a world where the threat of terrorism knows no borders wide international dialogue and cooperation is indispensable. Homeland and domestic security goes beyond the present counter-terrorism agenda. Modern society is increasingly vulnerable. Today’s threats menace both the public and the private sectors. Government and business must work together to create a safer world. A wide security agenda also reflects increased threats to the free flow of people, ideas, and trade, as well as to the interests of third parties. Side effects and collateral damage must be minimized. This international conference will examine the different threat perceptions and approaches of the US,and Europe, clarify the agenda, and encourage international cooperation on worldwide security.
Working Group Monday 29 September, Bibliothèque Solvay, Brussels 12.00 – 16.00
The policy rifts over the Iraq Crisis that have divided the NATO alliance clearly need to be repaired. How strong is the case for a new defence and security “doctrine” that would require the United States and its allies to clearly define their 21st Century interests, concerns and commitments? How might this doctrine be structured so as to re-launch NATO and also clarify the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy?
Working Group Monday 19 May, Bibliothèque Solvay, Brussels 12.00 – 16.00
Working Group Monday 31 March, Bibliothèque Solvay 12.00 – 16.00
The first meeting of the New Defence Agenda’s Working Group on Defence-led R&D and Industrial Innovation identified the maain areas of focus for the coming year. What is the European Commission’s view on how to revitalise the defence R&D issue and what is the view of industry? How far would it be possible to apply the “Delors/Single Market approach” to defence procurement and armaments policy issues? What is the state of play regarding armaments, procurement policy and the prospective European Armaments Agency within the Convention, given that the establishment of an EAA requires treaty change. What will be the impact of EU and NATO enlargement on defence industrial practices?
The NATO Alliance, which has served Europe and its North American allies so well for more than 50 years, is reinventing itself. And the European Union is grappling with the creation of European security and defence policies, as part of its burgeoning Common Foreign and Security Policy, that will complement yet not destabilise NATO. At the same time, NATO’s military assets and expertise will remain the dominant factor guaranteeing European security, at least until the EU’s planned Rapid Reaction Force becomes a reality, and probably thereafter.
The New Defence Agenda, a Forum Europe initiative under the Patronage of Javier Solana, EU High Representative of the CFSP and Lord Robertson, Secretary General of NATO, offers a platform for political leaders, officials, industry executives and policy analysts to discuss European defence and security issues on a regular basis in Brussels, to contribute to a series of Working Papers that will reflect key points raised in these debates and perhaps more important, to raise the profile of often sensitive defence and security issues by involving and briefing the international press.