Under the auspices of the Polish EU Presidency, EU Ministers of Defence and key decision-makers gathered in Warsaw on Thursday 3 April for an informal council meeting. The meeting included senior NATO and EU officials, such as the NATO Deputy Secretary-General, the EU Commissioner for Defence and Space, the Chairwoman of the European Parliament SEDE Committee, and the EDA Deputy Chief Executive.
Chaired by High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas and Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, participants exchanged views on strengthening Europe’s defence industry and rearming the continent. They also discussed the EU’s role in supporting Ukraine and efforts to bring a just peace to end the war.
Ahead of the informal council meeting, the Polish EU Presidency hosted a conference on the White Paper on the future of European defence. Following a presentation by European Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, EDA’s Deputy Chief Executive André Denk took part in a panel discussion on the development of defence capabilities in the EU.
“EDA helps Member States’ cooperate on defence innovation and capability development. We offer the right framework to make the best use of the intergovernmental approach and know-how at EU level. EDA has proposed robust solutions and stands ready to do more, at the speed and scale that our Member States require,” said André Denk.
Participants also acknowledged EDA’s growing role in coordinating defence efforts among Member States. In recent years, the Agency has acted as a facilitator and, at times, an intermediary in joint procurement initiatives. Aggregating demand for common procurement is now a core EDA task and the result of the Agency’s Long Term Review adopted by the Ministers of Defence last year.