EGMONT POLICY BRIEF 337 - A Safe and Sovereign Europe in a Changing Global Context

and in collaboration with the Representation of the European Commission in Belgium, has organised a The EU’s defence strategy, catalysed by the Russian series of three foresight workshops and three working aggression, is evolving from a peace-focused effort to dinners. [...] Diverse supply chains of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in deliver equipment with varying maintenance and 2017, the establishment of the Directorate General for operational requirements, hindering the development Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) in 2019, and of a robust European defence-industrial base capable the initiation of the European Defence Fund (EDF) and of independently pr. [...] The permacrisis compels the EU to For many Member States, NATO remains the primary pivot towards realpolitik, pragmatically recognizing the defence framework, with a particular focus on the role need to adapt to the realities of contemporary power of the United States in European defence. [...] (3) Navigating the Future of EU Defence Moreover, notable incidents such as the 2021 Ceuta entry attempt, the 2021 Belarus border crisis and the tensions In view of intensified global tensions and instabilities, the at the land border between Greece and Türkiye illustrate re-establishment of the European conventional line of the use of migration as a tool in coercive diplomacy. [...] Lila gained international experience at the Permanent Mission of Belgium and the In today and tomorrow’s geopolitical climate, the EU European Union Delegation to the United Nations must not only proclaim its unified identity, but also in Geneva, and as a Diplomatic Assistant at the act cohesively in addressing the complex challenges it Embassy of Belgium in Australia.