Council Conclusions on Security and Defence

Summary:

Set of conclusions adopted by the Council of the European Union on 10 May 2021, concerning the implementation of the European Union's security and defence agenda.

Further information:

The Council urges the EU to pursue a more strategic course of action and to increase its capacity to act autonomously, in line with the Strategic Agenda 2019-2024. The Strategic Compass is seen as an important tool in delivering on the objectives - the Council calls on the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to present a first draft of the document for discussion later in the year.

The Council also calls for further work to enhance the EU's capacity to undertake CSDP missions and operations across the whole spectrum of different crisis management tasks. The Council also encourages further reflection on a timely and efficient decision-making process. The conclusions underline the importance of strengthening EU defence initiatives. The need to further strengthen the EU’s resilience and ability to counter hybrid threats is also strongly emphasised.

Finally, the Council also reaffirms the centrality of international partnerships with multilateral organisations, in line with the European Council statement from February 2021.

Official

General Secretariat of the Council: Policies: EU cooperation on security and defence https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/defence-security/

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 10/05/2021: Security and defence: EU to move forward on common security and defence https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2021/05/10/security-and-defence-eu-to-move-forward-on-common-security-and-defence/

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