Public-Private Partnerships in Defence Procurement and Beyond

In the framework of the Presidency of the European Council, Luxembourg is organising the seminar on "Public-Private Partnerships in Defence Procurement and Beyond" on 29 September 2015. The aim of the seminar is to showcase best practices on PPPs from different EU Member States and industry and to share their experiences and challenges with the audience in an open discussion. Furthermore, future developments and needs in defence procurement will be discussed with a view to more innovative approaches.

Constraints on defence budgets in recent years and a significantly evolving security environment are putting MSs under considerable pressure. These budgetary and security challenges call for deeper cooperation within the EU, be it through “Pooling & Sharing” of capabilities or through projects of pooled procurement. But these collaborative approaches face various obstacles, such as differences in security and defence policy, planning cycles, national procurement processes and financial regulations.

The morning session will be conducted in two panels where the short presentations of the panellists will be followed by an open discussion. The input of the audience is more than welcomed.

• Panel 1: Member States will present their national experiences; share lessons learnt and expose their views on possible future PPP initiatives.
• Panel 2: Representatives from the industry and private sector representatives will present their views and experiences regarding PPPs and will discuss challenges faced. 

The afternoon session should open space for a discussion “outside the box” allowing participants to share their national experiences when it comes to private involvement in financing defence procurement and common procurement. We hope to hear about innovative approaches in defence procurement going beyond traditional approaches.

For questions regarding participation, and the organisation of the seminar in general, please contact Mr Philippe Decker, philippe.decker@mae.etat.lu.