In July 2013, the European Commission published a communication entitled “Towards a More Competitive and Efficient Defence and Security Sector’ (COM (2013) 542 final), which signaled the intent to set up a specific consultation mechanism with Member States experts (EU28 plus EEA Countries) to examine how energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources might be better implemented within the European defence sector.
As these objectives were closely aligned with the December 2013 Council Conclusions and the revised Capability Development Plan, EDA was invited to play a coordinating role in the work and has now concluded a service agreement with the Commission to administer this project for a period of 24 months.
Purpose
The main purposes of a dedicated Consultation Forum on Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS) for Member States' experts from the defence sector and the energy sector is to
- facilitate sharing of good practice and expertise on improving the capabilities of the defence sector,
- facilitate sharing of good practice and expertise on implementation of the EU legislation and the contribution to the EU and national strategic objectives
Core themes to be addressed
- Energy efficiency (in relation to buildings and camps, purchasing and use of energy efficient products, energy use in transport and logistics, behavioural aspects of energy use, financing energy efficiency investments in the defence sector, etc).
- Use of renewable sources of energy (on the land and infrastructure that belongs to/ is administered by the armed forces, production/use of solar energy, geothermal, wind, biomass, biofuels/etc, use of locally-available renewable energy sources in operations in and outside EU, etc).
The exchanges of experience and views related to the main core themes of the consultation forum are expected to lead to producing guidance documents on:
- the implementation of the relevant EU energy legislation and financing investments in energy efficiency and
- renewables in the defence sector
In general, the establishment of CF SEDSS, should bridge the expertise in developing policies, schemes, programmes, projects and other initiatives on energy with the specific circumstances and requirements of the armed forces. This ultimately should lead to the development of new national and international initiatives on energy efficiency and RES.