Along with Head of the European Defence Agency and HR/VP Federica Mogherini, EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq travelled to Washington on 29 April to attend the 4th Annual Transatlantic Symposium on the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
Bringing together senior EU and US military and civilian leaders, the event provided a forum to discuss the role of CSDP and transatlantic cooperation in addressing challenges such as hybrid warfare, crisis management in Africa, maritime security and global security.
Transatlantic cooperation
After an opening address given by Federica Mogherini, EDA Chief Executive Jorge Domecq took part in a panel discussion focused on the reinforcement of the transatlantic security cooperation. There he shared views with Maciej Popowski, Deputy Secretary General, European External Action Service; and Jim Townsend, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, as well as with the rest of the audience.
“It is important that we maintain a sound working relationship with NATO”, Jorge Domecq stressed during the conference. “In the current security environment we will need to further enhance this link by avoiding unnecessary duplications and reinforcing the EU’s ability to act as a security provider with the right set of capabilities and a strong and balanced defence industry”, he explained.
Constant interaction
“We have to keep in mind that each EU Member State can only rely on a single set of forces to achieve EU and NATO ambitions”, the EDA Chief Executive added. “Thanks to constant interaction between EDA and NATO experts, we have already established transatlantic links that could be further developed in the years to come”.
Jorge Domecq also took advantage of this trip to the United States to meet with Department of Defense officials.
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