The event brought together Christian Moos, rapporteur of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the EU’s Strategic Compass, Lukas Mandl, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, Sebastian Clapp, expert from the European Parliament Research Service, Mary Kaldor, Professor Emeritus of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict Research Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Thomas Sohst, President of the CESI’s statutory Expert Commission ‘Defence’.

Christian Moos, also an affiliate of CESI’s German member organisation dbb, stressed that organised civil society and defence unions should be more involved in the policy debates amounting to the development of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Their role should be perceived as crucial to foster a representation of interests and concerns of citizens and contribute to transparency and accountability in decision-making processes. They could provide valuable input and feedback on defence policies, help bridge the gap between policy-makers and the general public, strengthen democratic practices and promote public awareness and understanding of complex security issues.

Lukas Mandl pleaded for “more courageous political leadership for owning tough but necessary decisions needed for the future.” He asked for more defence-related debates at grass-root levels for involving EU citizens in the process of developing the EU Defence Union, explaining the processes, the costs and why a consensus is needed.

According to Sebastian Clap, the war of attrition against Ukraine has required EU to provide continuous support to reinforce Ukraine’s military capabilities. As such, EU defence spending was increased by 35% compared to 2021. In view of the current geopolitical climate and the existing divisions amongst Member States on defence, he raised the issue of austerity versus more investments in the industrial military capabilities sector and noted that to investments need to continue to build a genuine EU Defence Union.

Klaus Heeger, CESI Secretary General added that “it is important that this budget allocation also addresses personnel shortfalls and training for the European armed forces.’

Thomas Sohst stated: “The forthcoming EU defence exercises – involving the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity, joint missions, training of Ukrainian troops and possibly an EU army – are suitable to demonstrate not only joint military skills but also to showcase how to strengthen trust between the different European armed forces.”

Mary Kaldor emphasised the importance of understanding human security in a broader sense, in connection to a strong safety-net of economic and social policies for all EU citizens. She highlighted the role of civil society organizations in ensuring that defence policies are aligned with human rights and democratic values, and that they do not undermine the principles of transparency and accountability.

Klaus Heeger concluded that “EU should strengthen its soft power to influence global affairs. Through its Enlargement policy EU allows for more cooperation and diplomacy with Ukraine rather than coercion and aggression and this is a great step forward.”

CESI, through its biannual European Defence Round Table, gives civil society and trade unions the opportunity to shape EU’s political agenda by engaging with policy-makers and by promoting greater public participation and involvement in European defence and security issues. In support of these efforts, CESI’s Expert Commission ‘Defence’ adopted a position paper on ‘Making EU defence policy fit to ensure regional security: demands of defence trade unions in Europe. The full paper is available here.