It is really a great pleasure and honour for me, to provide the welcome address to this very important conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA), here in Athens. Here in the capital of Greece, in the historic capital of Europe, just a few days before the official starting, the official opening of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Let me start by highlighting the timing of this meeting which coincides with the European Defence Agency’s tenth birthday; as we all know it was founded in June 2003, during the 4th Hellenic Presidency.
In today’s rapidly changing developments, our values and interests have been continuously challenged and we need to be able to respond to these challenges.
Stronger capabilities for the European defence are of the utmost importance to all of us and Research & Technology is at the core of strengthening our capacity to respond. Most of all, increased collaboration in Research & Technology worths the extra efforts, as it prevents duplication of national investments and leads to economies of scale. This is also one of the priorities of the Greek Presidency, as from January 1st 2014.
On the other hand, expecting solid deliverables from the upcoming European Council, related to the reinforcement of the EU defence industry, our Presidency will also focus on this issue. Furthermore, it is essential for us to ensure the reinforcement of “Small and Medium Enterprises” of the EU member-states, which operate within the context of EU security and defence markets.
The EDA projects are an excellent – a really excellent – opportunity for the European defence industry. Research institutions and universities can play an active role in EDA’s defence Research & Technology processes and could be also important contributors in the European defence capability development areas.
The European Defence Agency has been playing a very important role in the improvement of European capabilities for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). This is why the Lisbon Treaty has reinforced the Agency’s central role in this mission.
Decreasing defence budgets and increasing international competition makes ever clearer that member-states cannot afford to go it alone. Heads of States and Governments have realized that the forthcoming European Council is not the end of the “defence journey” but the beginning of a new European Defence future. For this reason, all EU partners should contribute to EDA’s bright future remains on their own hands.
The challenges of this Conference are significant and I am sure, I am confident that you will succeed in your objectives. I wish you a productive and successful meeting and fruitful discussions and results.
I would also like to personally congratulate Ms Claude-France Arnould, whom I will have the pleasure to receive later this morning at the Ministry of National Defence, and to wish to all you participants success to your works.
With these words, I declare the opening of the works.
Thank you very much for your attention.