While the war in Ukraine has entered its second month, the European Union has set its course by approving A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence. According to the agreed text “The more hostile environment requires us to make a quantum leap forward and increase our capacity and willingness to act, strengthen our resilience and ensure solidarity and mutual assistance”.

 

Now the Compass has been approved, the next important and challenging phase of its implementation will begin. Member states will have to implement the stated targets in the Compass in order to realise that the EU will take more responsibility for ensuring European security.

 

The conference will be opened by the Dutch and Belgian Ministers of Defence, Mrs. Kajsa Ollongren and Mrs. Ludivine Dedonder, providing their views on the Compass’ next phase. This will be followed by two high-level expert panels, focussing on the challenges of the realisation of the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity (EU RDC) and on the elaboration of the EU’s resilience capacities respectively.

 

Read the report here.

Programme

 

14.30 Arrival and registration

15.00 Opening by Sven Biscop, Egmont Institute

15.15 Keynote speeches by

• Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defence of The Netherlands
• Ludivine Dedonder, Minister of Defence of Belgium

16.00 High-level expert panel: The realisation of the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity         

• Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss, Security Policy Director, German Ministry of Defence
• Major-General (Belgian Army, Ret.) Philippe Boucké
• Daniel Fiott, security and defence editor, EU Institute for Security Studies

Moderator: Dick Zandee, Head Security Unit, Clingendael Institute

17.15 Coffee break

17.45 High-level expert panel: The elaboration of the EU’s resilience capacities

• Joanneke Balfoort, Director Common Security and Defence Policy, European External Action Service
• Margriet Drent, Counter-Hybrid Unit, Dutch Ministry of Defence
• Kenneth Lasoen, Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute

Moderator: Sven Biscop, Director ‘Europe in the World’, Egmont Institute

 

19.00 Closing remarks

 

 

 

Please register by 04 April.