EDA Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý is pursuing his ‘tour des capitales’ this week with a visit to the Czech Republic (26-27 January). Today, he met with Defence Minister Jana Černochová and capability, armaments, research and defence planning representatives at the Ministry of Defence, as well as with Pavel Fischer, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security Committee of the Senate of the Parliament. He also had a meeting with the Chief of Defence, General Ales Opata.
The exchange of views with Minister Černochová focused on the implementation of the EU defence initiatives and Czech Republic’s priorities on security and defence for the upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Minister Černochová and Mr Šedivý also discussed the participation in EDA’s current and future activities and the need to drive defence innovation in Europe and the prospect of reinforcing EDA's role in supporting Member States in this area, the implications of the EU’s Green Deal policy on the military, the second cycle of the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) which is currently underway, the state of play in the PESCO implementation, the functioning of the European Defence Fund (EDF) as well as the preparations for the EU’s Strategic Compass to be approved in March.
“I want to thank the Czech Republic for its constant support to EDA and its active involvement in the Agency’s activities. As we speak, the country participates in 23 EDA projects and programmes, from helicopter training and the manual neutralisation of improvised explosive devices to medical support and research into innovative materials for defence applications. Let me express a special word of appreciation for the leading role the Czech Republic plays in our Multinational Modular Medical Unit project whose objective is to develop deployable and sustainable multinational Medical Treatment Facilities available for the full spectrum of CSDP missions or other multinational engagements. This is important because we currently lack specific medical assets to perform medical support to crises management operations. The Czech Republic is also active in PESCO, to which it currently participates in 8 projects and is a leading country in the project 'Electronic Warfare Capability and Interoperability Programme for Future JISR Cooperation'. Czech industrial entities also take part in EU funded activities and participate in the projects funded through the EDIDP. Therefore, I can only thank the Czech authorities for their leadership in this important domain, and for their general commitment and support to the European security and defence, as well as to EDA”, Mr Šedivý commented.
The Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová said: “I very much appreciate the opportunity to welcome the delegation of EDA led by Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý, for a two-day visit in Prague. Due to the ongoing pandemic, it is the first official visit of Mr. Šedivý since he assumed his position in the spring of 2020. However, I think that the timing is relevant, as it is only two months ago when our new government started to work. I am happy having this opportunity as one of my priorities as the Minister of Defence is to put greater emphasis on multinational efforts, both in the EU and NATO context. I am glad that we managed to hold two bigger events together with the EDA delegation: a round table discussion with Ministry of Defence managers on the first day, and a seminar with the representatives of national defence industry associations on the second day. When assessing the content of the visit in my personal meeting with Mr. Šedivý, I expressed our full support for the strengthening the role of the EDA within the European defence cooperation. I mentioned CARD and PESCO, and notably welcomed EDA’s efforts of further improving working contacts with the Commission (DG DEFIS) and NATO HQ Staffs. We expect EDA to support us in our focus on defence innovations, particularly emerging disruptive technologies. The role of the Agency in this area is indispensable. Therefore we welcome steps taken towards the creation of a Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI). At the same time, we call for complementarity with the NATO efforts as well. I also informed Mr. Šedivý that we see the need for improving participation of our experts in different working formats under the EDA umbrella; it is not an easy task, but we want to work on it. The Czech Republic very much appreciates EDA’s effort around wider EU policies, notable Single European Sky, mobility and on the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH); in this context I raised my worry linked to the application of the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) taxonomy within the Green Deal policy, which in its current application contradicts the interest of European defence industries. This serious problem needs to be resolved, and I expect the Agency to lead a joint campaign. We also briefly touched upon the preparations of the Strategic Compass, which is to be finalised soon; it is an important conceptual document that sets tasks for further developing CSDP, and particularly for strengthening European defence cooperation. The first steps of its implementation fall into period of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. Concerning the Czech EU Presidency, Mr. Šedivý and I also discussed how the Agency could support and participate in different events we plan to organise in the defence area. I assured the Chief Executive that the Czech Republic wants to be an active member of the Agency. Finally, I expressed my support for the Agency-led effort related to the preparation of the Administrative Arrangement between EDA and the U.S. Department of Defense; I believe that meaningful, balanced, and mutually beneficial cooperation with the US will contribute to the strengthening of the Trans-Atlantic partnership”.
Industry event
Today, Mr Šedivý also participated in an industry workshop with Czech defence industry representatives, chaired by the Deputy Minister for Defence Industrial Cooperation, Tomas Kopecny. He also had a bilateral meeting with Jiří Hynek and Kateřina Stejskalová from the Defence and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic (DSIA).