European Perspective on Defence Cooperation in a Time of Financial Challenge

There was a Hungarian one among the invitees of the European Defence Agency (EDA) annual conference. Claude-France Arnould, the Chief Executive of EDA invited Gábor Márki, Deputy State Secretary for Defence Economy, Ministry of Defence to be the moderator of the opening panel “Effective defence collaboration – a business case for Europe".

The conference started after an opening address delivered by Baroness Catherine Ashton, Head of the European Defence Agency, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, and a keynote address given by Pieter de Crem, the Minister of Defence of Belgium.

Gábor Márki’s introductory remarks focused on the topics and connections that may provide a framework for the European defence cooperation. The first speaker of the panel discussion, Ambassador Olof Skoog, the Permanent Chair to the Political and Security Committee spoke about the effects of the global financial crisis on the European Union and on its defence and security policy in particular.

Gen. Stéphane Abrial, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) presented his perspective on the NATO/EU cooperation, the synergy between the EU Pooling & Sharing and the NATO Smart Defence initiatives, and the role of the member states and the Alliance. The presentation given by Klaus Eberhardt, the President of AeroSpace and Defence (ASD) Industries Association of Europe and Chief Executive Officer of Rheinmetall AG dealt with the practical relationships of effective defence industrial collaboration. In what followed, Gábor Márki opened a discussion on the topics with the participation of the audience.

The MoD Deputy State Secretary pointed out the significance of Central Eastern European small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European defence industry. In his opinion, SMEs are the sources of innovation, so they should join the defence industry supply chain and play a more active part in it.

(MoD Press Office; MoD Deputy State Secretariat for Defence Economy (DSSDE))

Photo: MOD DSSDE