Defence ministers have shared their expectations and views ahead of the presentation of the first full Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) Report which will be delivered to the Steering Board in November 2020.
Ministers took the opportunity to highlight their expectations and share success factors they deem important ahead of delivery of the first full CARD Report. The discussions come at an important juncture in the CARD process, as EDA together with the EU Military Staff (EUMS) are currently carrying out bilateral dialogues with each Member State to complement and consolidate information it has already gathered on national defence planning.
Ministers discussions focused around CARD’s relevance for national defence planning and its contribution to other EU defence initiatives. Ministers expressed their views on how best to structurally integrate CARD into national planning and decision-making and how to incentivise the translation of CARD recommendations into new collaborative projects.
CARD provides an overview that will allow Member States to better coordinate their defence planning and spending and engage in collaborative projects, improving consistency in Member States defence spending and overall coherence of the European capability landscape.
“CARD is designed to be a ‘pathfinder’ helping Member States to get a better picture of the European capability landscape and identify new opportunities for cooperation on capability development and procurement, while avoiding duplication of work with NATO.
CARD will over time play a crucial role in providing a comprehensive picture of Member States’ defence plans and capabilities, the state of collaboration, as well as progress towards EU capability development priorities.” Jorge Domecq, EDA’s Chief Executive, commented.
Ministers also approved the Agency’s general budget 2020 on the basis of a proposal made by the Head of the Agency at the level of €34.125m. this is with the understanding that pending further clark-ification of the Brexit situation in 2020, an Amending Budget , that takes into account the role EDA plays in the context of major EU defence initiatives and the Agency’s core activities, will be submitted by the Agency to the Steering Board.
