THE AGENCY’S WAY OF WORKING The European Defence Agency (EDA) was established on 12 July 2004, and is governed by Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1835 defining the statute, seat and operational rules of the European Defence Agency. The Agency has its headquarters in Brussels. The main task of EDA is to support the Council and the […]
Europol 2022: Another year Making Europe Safer
2022 was a year marked by sudden, unexpected events, from continuing to deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic to geopolitical and economic turmoil. As the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, Europol supports EU Member States in preventing and combating all forms of serious international and organised crime, cybercrime and terrorism. Of the […]
Firearms: Updated rules to increase security and facilitate legal trade
The Commission is proposing to update EU rules on the import, export and transit of firearms for civilian use. As many as 35 million illicit firearms are estimated to be in the hands of civilians in the EU, and around 630,000 firearms are listed as stolen or lost in the Schengen Information System. The updated […]
EU Commission accelerates work to strengthen the resilience of EU critical infrastructure
The sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines and other recent incidents made it clear that the resilience of the EU critical infrastructure is under threat. Action is urgently needed to step up the EU’s capacity to protect itself against attacks on critical infrastructure, both in the EU and its direct neighbourhood. The Commission is […]
European Conference in Málaga: Dual Use Technologies 2022 – Cyber Security and Digital Applications in Defence
The European Commission and IDEA (the Agency of Innovation and Development of Andalusia) bring together, in a joint ENDR event, a wide range of participants from defence/security-related businesses, national and European authorities, knowledge institutions and cluster organisations. This fully on-site international event is focused on cybersecurity and cyber defence as well as other digital technologies […]
EU foreign ministers meet in Prague on 30-31 August
On 30 and 31 August, Prague will host a Gymnich meeting of EU foreign ministers, so named after the place where the first such meeting took place in 1974. European ministers will be discussing two main topics: the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the EU’s relations with Africa. During these meetings, always organised by the […]
Defence Industry: EU takes steps to invest almost €1.2 bn
The Commission announced plans to grant a total EU funding of almost €1.2 billion supporting 61 collaborative defence research and development projects selected following the first ever calls for proposals under the European Defence Fund (EDF). With the proposals selected for funding, the EDF will support high-end defence capability projects such as the next generation of fighter aircrafts, tanks […]
EU to reinforce the European defence industry through common procurement with a €500 million instrument
The Commission has adopted a proposal for a Regulation by the European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) for 2022-2024. As announced in the Joint communication on the Defence Investment Gaps in May, the Commission is delivering on its commitment to set up a Short-Term EU Instrument reinforcing […]
Defence and security of the European Union
In today’s world, security issues require ever-increasing attention. The Czech Presidency is fully aware of this and intends to take decisive steps to improve the resilience of the European Union in the areas of conventional capabilities and new domains. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the importance of building the resilience and defence capabilities […]