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European Parliament
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What is said in the sittings, update by update, the latest first. Each update opens the video at the second it was said.
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair formally ends the SME study item and opens work on the INI report ‘From prototypes to capabilities’, as rapporteur Stakīs presents the amendment calendar and key priorities to secure demand, accelerate payments, harmonise testing and certification, and support production scaling for new defence market entrants.
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEPs and the expert examine how risk‑averse procurement cultures, fragmented standards and security rules, and timid engagement with Ukrainian innovation impede SME entry and EU defence industrial competitiveness, with calls for stronger political backing for risk‑taking and deeper EU‑Ukraine technology cooperation.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
Coordinators question Fiott on leveraging SMEs, avoiding US‑style consolidation, tackling the two ‘valleys of death’, and funding testing and certification infrastructure, with Fiott stressing mindset barriers, fragmented national procurement and the need for fresh, better‑integrated EU funding.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
Fiott outlines how to streamline EU defence instruments under the next MFF, improve SME access to funding and testing, and close the gap from early innovation to operational procurement by better combining tools such as Agile and HEDI.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
Professor Fiott analyses how existing EU instruments (EDF, EDIP, ASAP, FAST, EDIS) interact with SME access barriers and valleys of death, then uses Ukraine’s wartime procurement model to illustrate how streamlined procedures and ‘good enough’ capabilities can accelerate deployment in Europe.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair mandates the study for SEDE, then Professor Fiott sets out the strategic role of defence SMEs in the EU DTIB, using lessons from Ukraine to frame their innovation potential and the core financial, regulatory and political obstacles they face.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEPs Søvndal, Boylan and Botenga press the Envoy on China’s restraining influence over Russia, possible ‘rules‑based’ coalitions beyond the UN, the EU SAFE regulation’s links to cluster munitions and mines, Israel’s nuclear opacity, and alleged EU double standards in disarmament. Klement contrasts Chinese and Russian approaches to the international order, outlines engagement with Global South and middle‑power partners, reaffirms EU support for the NPT, CCM and Ottawa Convention (including on Israel and demining), and argues that selective progress and constrained resources do not invalidate the EU’s broader multilateral disarmament agenda.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEP Mikser questions pathways beyond New START, integrating China into future frameworks and the leverage of a non‑nuclear EU, prompting the Envoy to defend the NPT’s long‑term value and outline the status and limits of CTBT and FMCT. Klement explains why China must eventually join strategic arms talks and details how EU common positions, consensus language and diplomatic coordination allow the Union to shape nuclear arms control debates despite lacking an EU‑level nuclear deterrent.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Envoy sets out how the CFSP budget finances concrete support to key international organisations and capacity‑building for multilateral regimes, urging sustained or increased funding linked to diplomatic partnerships. He then reviews regional proliferation challenges in Iran, DPRK and Syria, explains the EU’s policy stances on their nuclear, missile and chemical weapons programmes, and closes with messages on reinforcing IAEA/OPCW, preserving EU unity and using CFSP instruments to turn non‑proliferation priorities into action.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the item and tasks the EU Special Envoy to explain how the Union can respond to the erosion of the arms control and non‑proliferation regime, followed by a detailed EEAS overview of the mandate, multilateral fora, and Russia’s systemic rollback of arms control commitments. The Envoy then covers China’s nuclear build‑up, Russia’s chemical weapons use and nuclear safety risks in Ukraine, IAEA support, post‑war small arms control, and regulatory approaches to emerging and autonomous weapons technologies under international humanitarian law.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The committee receives a state of play on trilogue negotiations and technical work on the proposed military mobility regulation, then the Chair briefly gathers group reactions before moving SEDE into an in‑camera session on CARD findings and 2024 defence data.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
Further questions address how to engage non‑state armed groups and private military companies without legitimising them, trust‑building with actors such as M23 and Sahel jihadist groups, mine bans and protection commitments in South Sudan, limits of the mandate in Cyprus, the scope of work on Ukraine and Russia, and the Chair’s formal closing of the Geneva Call exchange.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
Members question Geneva Call on AI and drone impacts on warfare, funding independence, work in Ukraine, the regional fallout from Gaza, enforcement of IHL and accountability, and current operations in Syria including Kurdish integration, detention camps and rule‑of‑law support.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
SEDE launches the exchange of views with Geneva Call, as its leadership presents the organisation’s mandate, strategic analysis of evolving conflicts, operational engagement with armed groups, illustrative field cases, and recommendations for how EU institutions should integrate these insights into security, CSDP and high‑tech warfare policies.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the SEDE meeting, adopts the agenda and minutes, and leads the committee through the rapporteur’s priorities and voting on amendments for SEDE’s 2027 EU budget opinion, culminating in adoption of the opinion letter by roll‑call vote.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEPs scrutinise the Commission on EDPCI design, governance and funding, its links with EDIP, EDF and the future European Defence Industry Programme/Competitiveness Fund, SME access, treatment of missile IP gaps, rationalisation of intergovernmental initiatives and the credibility of new joint projects given past failures.
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair closes the previous agenda point, defines SEDE’s role on common defence procurement and space, and formally opens the EDPCI/EDIP item before giving the floor to the Commission to present the framework and funding model.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Executive Director details EUSPA’s current mandate over EU space assets, associated security and SST responsibilities, and defence‑relevant services, followed by MEP questions on Russian ASAT threats, space infrastructure protection and jamming, and on the upcoming recast of the EUSPA regulation, agency seat in Prague and secure connectivity alternatives to commercial systems like Starlink.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
From the opening of the SEDE meeting through successive Q&A blocks, members and the NATO Deputy Secretary General review Ankara summit decisions, NATO 3.0 transformation, defence investment and industrial ramp‑up, European strategic autonomy and burden sharing, rapid response arrangements and SACEUR’s role, and political tensions around Turkey, Cyprus and alliance unity, before the Chair closes the NATO item.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEPs question the Minister on Russian influence in Transnistria, linkages to a future Ukraine peace process, Russian citizenship policy, hybrid threat lessons, church influence, political continuity and defence cooperation, before turning to the benchmarks and merit-based pace of Moldova’s and Ukraine’s EU accession and the handling of sensitivities around diplomatic remarks as the session moves in camera.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Moldovan Foreign Minister outlines the country’s security situation, EU support instruments, defence and hybrid resilience efforts, and accession reforms, followed by initial questions from MEPs on Transnistria’s trade orientation, the presence of Russian troops, and the impact of the European Peace Facility on Moldova’s air defence and response to Russian hybrid operations.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The committee chair opens the meeting, adopts the agenda and minutes, then organises and completes the electronic vote on the report on hybrid warfare and protection of EU territory before introducing the structured exchange with the Moldovan Foreign Minister on security and EU accession.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence – Extraordinary Meeting with the Irish Presidency
Subsequent exchanges scrutinise Ireland’s military neutrality, use of EU defence funds, concrete support to Ukraine including frozen Russian assets and sanctions on alumina supplies, and responses to disinformation and online harms, with the Minister defending neutrality while backing stronger EU security, sanctions and coordinated resilience against hybrid threats.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence – Extraordinary Meeting with the Irish Presidency
First round of MEP questions tests the Presidency’s approach to hybrid threats, Article 42.7 mutual assistance, support for Ukraine, EU–NATO balance and the defence internal market, with the Minister outlining threat‑assessment work, sanctions and enlargement policy, and positions on strategic autonomy and coordinated defence spending.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence – Extraordinary Meeting with the Irish Presidency
Chair opens the SEDE meeting, adopts the agenda and gives the floor to the Irish Council Presidency, which sets out its security and defence work plan centred on sustained support to Ukraine, a new European Security Strategy and implementation of key EU defence instruments.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair closes the SAFE item, announcing that the committee will return to the file in September with more detailed data and indicating the next hearing with the EU Chief of Defence.
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
Questions focus on enforcing the common dimension, defining common procurement, and national cases such as Hungary and Poland, with the Commission detailing project screening, rejection of non-collaborative proposals, thresholds for participation, limited R&D focus, debt sustainability checks, potential for a second call, and interaction with EDIP/EDPCI for eastern flank needs.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEPs probe coherence with other EU defence instruments, coverage of key capability gaps, and support for Ukraine and drones, as the Commission outlines how SAFE funds Ukraine-linked production and transfers, the drone and AI ecosystem, and EU–Ukraine industrial cooperation tied to the Ukraine Support Loan.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
MEPs question whether SAFE truly promotes joint procurement and reduced fragmentation, while the Commission defends the growing share of common contracts, the role of multinational orders in standardisation and interoperability, and the inclusion of SMEs and start-ups despite geographically uneven industrial benefits.
In this chapter
Committee on Security and Defence Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the hearing on the SAFE loan instrument and the Commission presents its mandate, financial parameters, implementation calendar, state of play of loan agreements, and the emerging split between common and national defence procurement across capability areas.
In this chapter
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European Parliament broadcasts the sittings of the Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE). Polyfact shows each one live, keeps it as a replay with its transcript and links its key moments to the second they were said.
73 sittings on Polyfact since 5 May 2025
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