Tue. Dec 24th, 2024

Background on the EU Foreign Affairs Council – Defence, 19 November 2024

Nov 18, 2024 , , , , , ,

Brussels, 18 November 2024

The Foreign Affairs Council in its defence configuration will meet in Brussels at 9.45 and will be chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.

The Council will first discuss EU support to Ukraine. After the EU-27 internal discussion, EU Ministers will be joined by the Defence Minister of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, the Advisor to President Zelenskyy on Strategic Affairs, Alexander Kamyshin, and, for the first time the new NATO Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, for an informal exchange.

EU Defence Ministers will then exchange views on current affairs, with focus on the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity and PESCO Strategic Review, on which the Council is expected to approve conclusions the day before.

Over lunch, the Council will hold a discussion on defence readiness and preparedness, including an informal exchange of views with the special adviser to the President of the European Commission, Sauli Niinistö, who will join ministers in person for an exchange of views.

The Council meeting will be preceded by a meeting of the European Defence Agency Steering Board in ministerial composition, starting at 8.30.

Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) – meeting page

 

EU support to Ukraine

The Foreign Affairs Council in its defence configuration will discuss EU support to Ukraine focusing on the latest developments on the ground.

The Council will first hold a discussion on military support, touching on various ongoing initiatives, both at national and EU level, such as discussions on the European Peace Facility, the use of the second tranche of the so-called windfall profits (i.e. net profits stemming from unexpected and extraordinary revenues accruing to central securities depositories in the EU, as a result of the implementation of the EU restrictive measures), as well as of continued training support through the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine).

After the EU-27 internal discussion, EU Defence Ministers will be joined by the Defence Minister of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, the advisor to President Zelenskyy on Strategic Affairs, Alexander Kamyshin, via VTC, and NATO Secretary-General, Mark Rutte, in person, for an informal exchange. They are expected to discuss EU-Ukraine defence industrial cooperation, EU-NATO cooperation, and how to support Ukraine’s Victory Plan.

On 8 November, the Council adopted a decision extending the mandate of EUMAM Ukraine for a further two years, until 15 November 2026, with a budget allocation of nearly €409 million. EUMAM Ukraine was set up in October 2022 to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and to deter and respond to possible future military offensives by Russia and other potential aggressors. So far, the mission has trained close to 65 000 UAF soldiers so far, which is an equivalent of thirteen brigades. The mission will train additional 10 000 troops in coming months, bringing the total number of soldiers trained to 75 000 by the end of winter 2024/2025.

 

Current affairs

The Foreign Affairs Council will hold a discussion on current affairs, during which ministers will be able to focus on recent events and on fast-moving developments in security and defence.

The Council will be informed about progress in the operationalisation of the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity, one of the key military deliverables of the Strategic Compass that is due to allow to swiftly deploy a modular force of up to 5,000 troops, including land, air and maritime components, as well as strategic enablers, by 2025.

EU Defence ministers will then exchange views on the ongoing strategic review of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). The Council is expected to approve conclusions in this regard the day before.

 

 

Defence readiness and preparedness

The Council will hold a discussion on defence readiness and preparedness, against the backdrop of the report “Strengthening Europe’s civil and military preparedness and readiness” tabled on 30 October by Sauli Niinistö – former President of the Republic of Finland and Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission – who will attend the Council meeting to exchange views with EU Defence Ministers.

The Niinistö report puts forward 80 recommendations on how to enhance civil-military cooperation, including in areas such as crisis management, civil protection, defence industry, hybrid threats, economic security, critical infrastructure, diplomacy and conflict prevention, etc.

The discussions may also briefly touch on the implementation of the ASAP (Regulation on supporting ammunition production) and EDIRPA (Regulation establishing an instrument for the reinforcement of the European defence industry through common procurement), as well as efforts to facilitate the integration of Ukraine into the EDTIB.

 

In the margins of the Council meeting

The High Representative is expected to sign a Security and Defence Partnership agreement with the Republic of North Macedonia with the North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister.

European Defence Agency Steering Board

EU Ministers of Defence will meet in the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board under the chairmanship of High Representative Borrell in his capacity as Head of Agency.

In addition to EDA’s 2025 general budget, staff establishment plan, and three-year planning framework, ministers will approve the 2024 Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) report, which presents key findings and recommendations stemming from the analysis of member states defence spending and defence plans, including their alignment with the 2023 EU Capability Development priorities. For the first time, the review also identifies, based on in-depth exchanges with EU ministries of defence, concrete and actionable opportunities for member states to develop critical military capabilities together, either in the short term through joint procurement, or in the mid-term through collaborative capability development. As a first step towards possible joint projects, member states will be presented with letters of intent in four critical areas: integrated air and missile defence; electronic warfare; loitering munitions; and European combat vessel.

Accordingly, the EDA Steering Board will be followed by a signing ceremony where several member states will sign these letters of intent, showing their willingness to reinforce intergovernmental defence cooperation.

Source – Background brief – Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), 19 November 2024

 

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