After much wait and debate, on 19 April, the Council of the European Union has approved a set of conclusions to establish its new Sahel strategy.
The European Secure Software Defined Radio (ESSOR) is a PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) project. PESCO was established in 2017 to deepen defence cooperation among the Member States of the European Union. (Art. 46.2, Lisbon Treaty)Its aim is “to jointly arrive at a coherent full spectrum of defence capabilities available to Member States for national and multinational missions and operations”. Since its establishment, PESCO has been undertaking new projects, and on 6 March 2018, a list of 17 projects was adopted by the Council, then a second list of another 17 projects was adopted on 20 November 2018, and finally, a third batch was adopted on 12 November 2019.
After gaining approval of the Bundestag on 14 April 2021, the Eurodrone contract between Airbus, OCCAR, and the four Member States, Germany, Spain, France, and Italy will be signed in the coming weeks. The signing of the contract would be a great step forward for the German and European defence industry regarding remote operations and technical interoperability between Member States.
A new agreement has been reached between the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) companies regarding developing a new European jet fighter. This project constitutes a major advancement in the consecution of European strategic autonomy, as it consolidates the European defence industry sector and reinforces its military capabilities.
Several nations of Central and Eastern Europe used to be part of the Warsaw Pact (1955-1991) and acquired a large military arsenal of Soviet origin during the Cold War. Today, they represent strategic partners and allies of the European Union and NATO that share the same visions and values (NATO, 2021). Despite the economic crisis of the past decade, the difficulties that the Covid-19 pandemic brought and all the political, financial, and logistical issues that the procurement of new military equipment implies, these countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria), are aiming at replacing their Soviet-era equipment by acquiring up-to-date military assets to comply with NATO standards (IISS, 2020: 73) and increase the capabilities of their land forces.
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