The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), the European Defence Agency (EDA), and the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) converged in Luxembourg for a trilateral meeting on 12 December.
Hosted by Ms Stacy Cummings, NSPA General Manager, the gathering focused on navigating the evolving security landscape and fortifying joint initiatives to optimise use of resources and enhance complementarity.
With a candid exchange on the impact of the current security environment on their respective roles and missions, the organisations delved into strategic discussions aimed at identifying synergies and areas of collaboration. The emphasis lay on identifying common challenges and unlocking opportunities for strengthened cooperation.
Key areas of focus included brainstorming pathways to bolster collaboration and coordination, addressing concerns regarding potential competition and overlapping capabilities, and identifying objectives for unified messaging when engaging with common stakeholders.
"The current security environment challenges us to be more efficient, effective and responsive. We are stronger together, as partners. By leveraging their synergies, NSPA, EDA and OCCAR are building collective strength," stated Ms Cummings. "This meeting is a step forward as we leverage past successes and continue to join forces towards enhanced cooperation, reinforcing our commitment to enabling and supporting nations across Europe and the NATO alliance.
EDA Chief Executive, Mr Jiří Šedivý, said: “Sharing views trilaterally and identifying areas for greater synergies at this precise moment in time is much helpful and necessary. We did it in the past already, delivering tangible achievements together with the multinational multirole tanker and transport (MRTT) fleet, which was conceived in EDA, managed by the NSPA on behalf of the participating countries and supported by OCCAR in the acquisition phase.”
“While our organisations have different mandates, scope of activities, and membership, we are aiming to support our respective member states so that they can best cope with the fast-changing security environment and new capability needs”, he added.
OCCAR-EA Director, Mr Joachim Sucker confirmed: “At a time when our world is ever more disconnected, we need to work hard to find ways to connect and cooperate to achieve our common goal to provide options to deliver defence capabilities to the Nations. I am very thankful to NSPA General Manager, Ms Stacey Cummings for bringing myself and Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA) Jiří Šedivý together for the first time, trilaterally, to further develop and strengthen our joint efforts to collaborate effectively and efficiently with our individual organizations ‘strengths and capabilities.”
The outcome of this trilateral meeting shows commitment to fostering an environment of collaboration and to addressing pressing security challenges.
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is NATO’s lead organisation for multinational acquisition, support and sustainment in all domains.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an inter-governmental organisation of the European Union (EU). Created in 2004 to support and facilitate defence cooperation in the EU, it enhances European defence capabilities through collaborative projects and initiatives.
The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) is an independent International Organization for the management of complex, cooperative armament programmes