At a hearing on Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Security and Defence MEPs will discuss the next steps needed for achieving a European Defence Union.
MEPs from the Subcommittee on Security and Defence will assess the state of play in implementing the European Defence Union, taking into account recent geopolitical developments and lessons learned from Afghanistan. They will also consider concrete steps and proposals emerging in preparation of the EU’s Strategic Compass and the Defence Summit planned for 2022.
At the hearing, Ambassador Andreas von Brand, Head of EU Delegation to Afghanistan, will brief MEPs on the events in Kabul that led the international community to withdraw from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Stijn Mols, Head of Division – Security and Defence Policy, from the European External Action Service and Katarina Engberg, Senior Adviser at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) and Senior Associate Fellow at the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), will discuss the rapid reaction capacity proposed in the Strategic Compass and its role in common EU defence policy and the Defence Union.
When: Tuesday, 17 May, from 09.00 to 10.30.
Where: European Parliament in Brussels, SPAAK 5 B 1and remotely.
You can follow the discussion live.
Check the full meeting agenda.
Check the separate agenda of the hearing.
Background
The withdrawal from Afghanistan and continuing geopolitical turbulence is creating a growing sense of urgency for the EU to strengthen its security and defence policies. In her state of the union speech, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a strong statement for completing the European Defence Union and developing new initiatives, including an early entry force, and announced she would co-host a Defence Summit with the French president Emmanuel Macron this year.