A strong and competitive European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) is a prerequisite for developing defence capabilities and securing European strategic autonomy. EDA has established a structured dialogue and enhanced engagement with industry, which aims to EDTIB and focuses on European entities. This month, the Agency hosted a dedicated workshop for the defence industry, welcoming over 150 experts in-house and online, to update on the state of play and related way ahead of EDA’s activities of particular interest to the defence industry.
Welcoming industry representatives from large, mid-cap, SMEs and industrial associations, EDA’s Director for Industry Synergies and Enablers (ISE) underlined that the establishment of defence initiatives at EU level have created favorable conditions for strengthening the EDTIB. He emphasised that the Agency is committed to fostering an environment that supports the EDTIB, acknowledging its crucial contribution to Europe's overall security and defence.
The participants were updated by EDA experts during the workshop on the five pillars of EDA’s industry engagement approach, notably: Capability Development, Research, Technology and Innovation, Key Strategic Activities and wider EU policies as well as overall support to Industry. The update focused on activities of interest to the industry, including opportunities for potential engagement. Representatives of the European Commission also attended the meeting and provided an update on their current initiatives relevant to defence industry.
Access to finance, 2023 EU Capability Development Priorities & tools for industry
Industry representatives were informed on the Member States joint statement on access to financing that was prepared by EDA through a collaborative dialogue involving participating Member States and the industry. The statement, that was endorsed by 27 EU Ministers of Defence last November, emphasizes on the importance of accessing finance on capital markets, and encompassing both regulatory proposals at EU-level related to ESG reporting and ongoing developments with national financial actors.
The 27 EU Ministers of Defence approved also the 2023 EU Capability Development Priorities (CDP). The 22 agreed priorities provide a valuable overview of the capability development landscape for the defence industry. The workshop allowed industry representatives to address relevant questions on the CDP, primarily what are the next steps regarding the implementation and how industry could be involved in this process.
Clarifications also provided to the participants on how to access to the EDA prioritization platform which contains the Capability Development Priorities (CDP), Strategic Context Cases (SCC), Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA including the TBB roadmaps) and Key Strategic Activities (KSA) and on the further development of the B2B platform.
EDA also informed the participants about the publication of the Industry Engagement Roadmap 2024 which offers an overview of the EDA activities of interest to the industry, that are planned to take place in 2024 in all 5 pillars of EDA Industry Engagement.
Participants stressed that this workshop could take place one more time per year as the update provided is considered very useful.
