European Union Military Committee visits EDA

Ms. Arnould and Gen. Håkan Syrén

Brussels - 12 October 2011 EDA News

The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) permanent Military Representatives (MilReps) visited EDA today. This informal meeting was an opportunity to discuss on Pooling & Sharing-related initiatives - a core subject for the Agency. The Agency has recently shown concrete output, such as the Helicopters Training Programme, the Forensic Laboratory (already deployed to Afghanistan) and the Maritime Surveillance Network; furthermore, EDA will submit new Pooling & Sharing proposals at the Autumn Ministerial Steering Board. EDA's Chief Executive also stressed the need to raise awareness of national top decision makers on the implementation of SESAR.

Ms. Claude-France Arnould stated her strong conviction that “we contribute therefore to best prepare the cooperation of tomorrow. EDA and EUMC cooperation is key to prepare the best capability solutions to Member States”. "Having a dialogue is in our collective interest: in the end, the EDA is there to support Member States developing the right capabilities, and final users are national troops”, she added.

Gen. Håkan Syrén, Chairman of the EUMC, said "the Military Committee offers a privilege channel toward the Chiefs of Defence (CHODs) and has always showed its willingness to support the Agency".