Josep Borrell eudebates Security and Operation Irini at the Press Conference of Defence Ministers

Good morning. Today, we held the third informal videoconference of Defence Ministers in three months. https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/eu-p... This is itself an expression of the importance of our work on security and defence in spite of the pandemic. It also shows our unity and our solidarity in the European Union in this time of crisis. #Military #ARMY #EUarmy #NATO #Borrell #Libya #Military #ARMY #EUarmy #NATO #Borrell #Libya Today, we resumed our normal work. We had a very substantial discussion on our broad security and defence agenda. Firstly, we had a good exchange on how to strengthen our operational engagement. As you are aware, in face of the [COVID-19] pandemic, we had to withdraw some personnel and pause certain activities, in particular in our EU training missions. Now, it is time to organise the redeployment of military personnel of training missions and the gradual resumption of our activities. This will be done step by step, as conditions allow it, taking into account the situation in each country. We also looked at other structural issues, such as the need to enhance the strength of our military missions and operations – what we call force generation. I updated Ministers about [EUNAVFOR MED] Operation Irini, in particular as the United Nations renewed the arms embargo on Libya for another year. Since it was launched, Operation Irini has hailed ships on more than 130 occasions – [more than] 100 in relation with the arms embargo, 29 in relation with the oil embargo. The operation collects information involving actors on both sides of this conflict and is already delivering results. For sure, it could be doing more and better, but it is already delivering what it was set up for. During today’s Council, I called on Member States to provide all necessary assets and intelligence in order to strengthen the operation. Let us see where we will be in a few weeks. We also discussed the importance of setting up an effective European Peace Facility before the end of the year. The EU is already engaged in training military forces through our Common Security and Defence Policy [missions] and supporting partners through the African Peace Facility. This new instrument would enable us not only to continue doing [that] – and better – but also to take us to the next line: we could not only train, but also potentially equip our partners in a more effective manner. Secondly, Ministers discussed on how to take forward our defence cooperation initiatives. Probably the most important [initiative] is the Permanent Structured Cooperation. We have 47 ongoing PESCO projects. This year, we are taking stock on what is working well and where we need to put extra efforts to make sure that we deliver concrete results. This is what the PESCO Strategic Review is about. We had also with us Commissioner [for Internal Market, Thierry] Breton, who has also updated the Ministers on the results of the first call for proposals under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme. Just yesterday, the Commission announced the selection of 16 pan-European defence industrial projects for a total of €205 million and 9 of these projects are PESCO projects. That is a clear demonstration of the coherence among EU defence initiatives. Finally, we agreed to launch the development of a Strategic Compass to translate our Level of Ambition on security and defence agreed in 2016 into more concrete policy orientations. This will also contribute to develop a common European security and defence culture. The key issues underpinning all our efforts are the financial means and structures necessary to implement all these initiatives. Nothing can be done without resources. The ongoing negotiations of the Multiannual Financial Framework are crucial for the success of our defence initiatives: the European Defence Fund, Military Mobility as well as the off-budget European Peace Facility. We need these instruments [to be] adequately funded not only for the credibility of our common action, but also because they can contribute to the overall economic recovery.