Paris, 1 December 2009  - The European Union (EU) should boost defence spending, despite the economic downturn, strengthen cooperation and create a permanent structure for strategic dialogue with the United States, Assembly President Robert Walter MP (United Kingdom, Federated Group) said during his opening speech of the three-day plenary session of the European Security and Defence Assembly (ESDA).

“If the member states are serious about putting flesh on the bones of CSDP [Common Security and Defence Policy], they will have to provide the appropriate financial means”, he said. “The EU should now make a dedicated effort to close the gap between the discourse on CSDP and how it is actually put into practice. (…) In this fragile [geopolitical] environment, it is important for CSDP to be sustainable”. Furthermore, financial constraints and budget cuts “should be an incentive to increase defence cooperation and further develop standardisation and interoperability”, he added.

The Assembly’s role in highlighting the defence challenges facing the EU is unique, Mr Walter declared. “Defence spending is never at the top of the priority list, but through our work here we know only too well what the challenges are”, he added.

On the EU’s external relations, Mr Walter said he did not dismiss bilateral dialogue between individual member states and the US, but stressed that a “regular all-encompassing strategic EU-US dialogue” would be “more in line with the acknowledged ambition of the Lisbon Treaty’s CSFP [Common Security and Foreign Policy]”. There is “an urgent need for such a structure”, he said. But first the EU must “be prepared to speak with one voice. That may be a tall order, but a divided Europe will not have the strategic clout it needs if it is to be heard”.

The EU should also channel more energy into improving relations with NATO, he said. “There is no denying that they are still problematic, which, among other things, makes the Berlin Plus Arrangements unworkable”, he added. The arrangements specify strategic cooperation between the EU and NATO.