High-level seminar on "Building consensus towards the June 2015 European Council - next steps?" To Take Place in Riga

Riga, 16 January, 2015. – On January 19-20 a high-level seminar on "Building consensus towards the June 2015 European Council - next steps?" will take place in Latvian War Museum to prepare for the forthcoming European Council meeting.

The seminar will be attended by representatives from the EU Ministries of Defence, who will discuss enhancing the development of the EU capabilities, challenges of strengthening the Europe`s Defence Industry, as well as the role of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) in the light of recent changes in the global security environment.

“During the last year we have seen dramatic shifts within the global security environment. The EU is facing significant security challenges in its immediate neighborhood, such as Ukraine, Iraq, Libya, the Sahel and Syria. Also, the waning distinction between internal and external security challenges is encouraging the EU to achieve greater coherence between internal and external policies. This seminar gives us chance to discuss the progress made and possible avenues for further improvements before the long-awaited meeting in June,” emphasizes Raimonds Vējonis, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia.

The European Council meeting will take place in June, Brussels. The European Council will assess concrete progress on all issues in June and provide further guidance.

On December 19-20, 2013 for the first time since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council held a thematic debate on defence. It identified three priority actions for stronger cooperation – increase the effectiveness, visibility and impact of the CSDP, enhance the development of capabilities and strengthen Europe`s defence industry.

Watch live the seminar discussions in LatvijasArmija Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d-D-Ojd8wtE

Programme

January 19

11:00-11:20 Welcome speech by Mr Raimonds Vējonis, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia “The impact of changes in the global environment of the European defence and opportunities for the June 2015 European Council”

11:20-13:20 Panel 1: Enhancing the Development of Capabilities – What Next?

Moderator: Mr Johan Lagerlöf, Defence Policy Director, Ministry of Defence, Sweden
• Improving Rapid Response - Colonel (GS) Helmut Frietzsche, Branch Chief for CSDP, Federal Ministry of Defence, Germany
• Challenges to Defence Cooperation - Mr Esa Pulkkinen, Defence Policy Director, Ministry of Defence, Finland
• Enhancing Pooling and Sharing, the Visegard perspective – Mr Jan Jires, Defence Policy Director, Ministry of Defence, Czech Republic
• Future European Capability Needs
15:00-16:40 Panel 2: Strengthening Europe`s Defence Industry – What Challenges Remain?

Moderator: Mr Olli Ruutu, Deputy National Armament Driector, Ministry of Finland (TBC)
• Industry interests and CSDP needs - Dr Jan Joel Andersson, European Union Institute for Security Studies
• Enhancing the European defence technological and industrial base - COL Philippe Adam, Deputy Director for Euro-Atlantic Issues, Ministry of Defence, France
• Research and dual-use - Ms Tarja Jaakkola, Deputy Director & Head of Unit Market and Industry Policy, European Defence Agency
• Defence Industry SMEs - Ms Sylvia Kainz-Huber, Deputy Head of Unit Defence, Aeronautic and Maritime Industries, European Commission

January 20

10:00-12:00 Panel 3: CSDP in the Light of Recent Changes in the Global Security Environment – what can be done ahead of June 2015?

Moderator: Dr Antonio Missiroli, Director, European Union Institute for Security Studies
• EU-NATO cooperation and the new security environment - Mr Nick Gurr, Director of International Security Policy, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom
• Partnerships (alternative: the Comprehensive Approach) - Mr Gabor Iklody, Director of CMPD, European External Action Service
• CSDP’s approach to new security challenges on the EU’s Eastern border - Janis Garisons, Defence Policy Director, Ministry of Defence, Latvia
• Civ-Mil Cooperation in the border management - Rear Admiral Carlo Massagli, Defence Policy Director, Defence General Staff, Italy

12:00-12:20 Closing Speech by Mr Maciej Popowski, Deputy Secretary General, European External Action Service

Media contacts:
Anete Gnēze, Senior Desk Officer of the Media Relations Section
Military Public Affairs Department
Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
Phone: 00 371 67335093; Cell: 00 371 26474087
E-mail: anete.gneze@mod.gov.lv
Website: www.mod.gov.lv