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The digital discussion was moderated by Christoph von Marschall, diplomatic correspondent of the Tagesspiegel’s editorial offices. It focused on the results of the German EU Council Presidency and its achievements in security and defence over the last six months.
Topics discussed included:
First common threat analysis of the European Union
- The common threat analysis serves as the foundation for the Strategic Compass, a key project that will give the EU clear strategic goals and greater planning security. This increases the EU's ability to act.
- The Trio partners Portugal and Slovenia will continue the work that Germany started on the Strategic Compass, especially on the core issues of crisis management, resilience, capabilities and partnerships. The Strategic Compass is to be finalised during the French EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2022.
Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)
- Mediated by Germany, an agreement on the participation of non-EU member states in PESCO projects was reached after several years of negotiation. This will have a positive impact on practical cooperation, also between the EU and NATO.
- The Strategic Review at the conclusion of the first phase of PESCO (2017-2020) has shown that the projects are going in the right direction. However, they must create an even more specific operational added value in future.
European Medical Cooperation 2.0
- First lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic were put into practice in the European Medical Cooperation 2.0 right away to strengthen the resilience of the EU. The modular storage and management concept for medical supplies as well as the multinational pandemic response simulation exercise RESILIENT RESPONSE are already creating tangible benefits.
European Peace Facility
- We have to consider training as well as equipping our partners in EU training missions together and combine the two. This is what the European Peace Facility stands for. In-depth discussions are ongoing to create this new off-budget funding instrument, which can substantially help stabilise Europe’s neighbourhood.
You can watch the event here (German only).
Yesterday, Federal Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer met with her Trio counterparts from Portugal and Slovenia via VTC. Portugal will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Germany on 1 January 2021 and will pass it on to Slovenia on 1 July 2021.
Furthermore, Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer is to meet virtually with several EU defence ministers in the coming days.