Ambassador William E. Kennard, the United States’ Ambassador to the European Union, visited the European Defence Agency today.
During this visit, Ms. Claude-France Arnould, EDA’s Chief Executive, briefed Ambassador Kennard on the role and responsibilities of the EDA, including the interface it provided between its Members States and the European Commission. She also explained her objective of making EDA more responsive to its share-holders and more outward-looking.
Ms Arnould and Ambassador Kennard exchanged views on European defence capabilities, including in the context of the ongoing operation in Libya, on which Ambassador Kennard recalled the views expressed by the outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. They also discussed Ms Arnould’s forthcoming visit to the US, as part of the EDA/US interchange meetings.
The EDA/USA interchange meetings started in 2010, when Javier Solana (at the time, Head of EDA) tasked EDA to set up a dialogue with the US to explore concrete opportunities for transatlantic partnership.