Thomas Pringle
Question:61. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Defence if he will report on his attendance at the meeting of the European Defence Agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24875/21]
View answerThursday, 13 May 2021
Questions (61)
Written answers
I attended the EDA Ministerial Steering Board meeting on 6th May 2021 in Brussels. The meeting was held back-to-back with a Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting. The only agenda item for the EDA meeting was a discussion on the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD).
The meeting was chaired by Head of Agency/High Representative, Josep Borrell. In addition to Ministers for Defence, other attendees included Mr Jirí Šedivý, EDA Chief Executive, General Claudio Graziano, Chair of European Union Military Staff, and EU Commissioner Thierry Breton. The purpose of the meeting was to inform on the first steps taken and on the way ahead regarding the implementation of the 2020 CARD recommendations in the areas of defence spending, defence planning and defence cooperation.
CARD is a process within the EU where Member States exchange data on future plans in relation to defence policy, capability development, budgets and investment. The process aims to create greater transparency through sharing information on defence plans and thus facilitating opportunities for greater collaboration among member States on defence capability development, investment and procurement. The objective of CARD is to review the participating member States defence activities in order to provide, over time, a comprehensive picture of the European defence landscape, which includes capability development, Research &Technology efforts, the defence industrial dimension, and operational aspects. Potential benefits include more focused spending, cost sharing and greater interoperability.
The first full CARD Cycle was completed in 2020 and the CARD report was presented to Defence Ministers in November 2020. The Report makes recommendations across defence planning, defence spending, defence cooperation, and on the fulfilment of the EU CSDP level of ambition and operational dimension.
The focus of the EDA meeting on the 6th May was on defence cooperation. The CARD Report identifies a total of 55 collaborative opportunities throughout the whole capability spectrum, considered to be the most promising, most needed or most pressing ones, also in terms of operational value. The report recommends Member States should concentrate their collaborative capability development efforts on “next generation” capabilities in six focus areas – Main Battle Tank; European Patrol Class Surface Ship; Soldier Systems; Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS); Defence in Space; and Enhanced Military Mobility. While not all focus areas are of interest or applicable to Ireland, those which are of interest are (1) European Patrol Class Surface Ship; (2) Soldier Systems and (3) Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) .
During the Steering Board meeting Members States voiced their support for CARD and welcomed the work done to date. Member States also stressed a need to be realistic and clear in relation to how quickly Member States can implement the CARD recommendations into their military planning, a position which I would also support. Each Member State will need time to embed the CARD initiative within its own defence planning structures and procedures.
As the purpose of the meeting was to inform and discuss there were no decisions made or adopted.