Committee on Security and Defence – Extraordinary Meeting with the Irish Presidency
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SEDE European Parliament
Ihren Sitzungen folgenHelen MCENTEE
The best security guarantee that we can offer to Ukraine is future membership of our Union and we will work to access the opening of the remaining clusters during our presidency and I welcome that cluster nine or six apologies was opened today. In the interim we will also make all possible efforts on the full integration of Ukraine into EU defense initiatives so that Ukraine has the same access as EU member states. The EU and member states are actively supporting Ukraine's reconstruction, however it's more than just bricks and mortar. The EU is also helping Ukraine to rebuild its social fabric and to strengthen societal resilience.
As presidency, we will support efforts to advance both Ukraine's physical recovery and its broader social reconstruction. The key principle in compiling the new European security strategy, as outlined in many member states' papers, including our own, is that Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to European security. Russia has intensified the scale and the recklessness of its hybrid campaign against Europe. This poses a serious threat to our collective security. In terms of the European security strategy, the presidency will adopt a constructive and a positive approach to the development of any implementation plan arising from the new strategy.
Our values, our collective commitment to upholding and defending the rules-based international order and multilateralism. This is while pursuing realistic measures to enhance security for all member states. The strategy is an opportunity to deliver real value for all member states. To achieve this, it must be broad-based, as broad-based as possible, so all member states can see themselves and indeed their security needs in the new strategy. We share a sense of urgency to strengthen European security, and I believe the strategy offers a timely opportunity to do so.
On our partnerships, now more than ever, the EU needs to defend and vindicate its values within Europe and globally. We will work to strengthen the EU's role as a principled global actor. This includes firm support for multilateralism and the international legal order.
It includes strong partnerships with NATO, the UN, and the OSCE. It is evident that no state acting alone can address the entirety of existing and emerging security challenges, and certainly in these uncertain times, we want to work to strengthen the EU's relationships with our neighbors and with our partners around the world. This is a key theme of our presidency. It is core to enhancing our interoperability, our resilience, and the protection of shared interests. On maritime security, the Irish presidency will also contribute to EU efforts to specifically address maritime security challenges.
This will include measures to counter Russia's shadow fleet, to enhance maritime domain awareness, and to promote a greater member state cooperation. This is particularly pertinent to safeguard the critical maritime infrastructure and to address emerging hybrid maritime threats. Our approach will be informed by our recent publication, Ireland's first National Maritime Security Strategy, which was published earlier this year. The presidency will also support the mid-term review of the EU's maritime security strategy, which is due in the second half of this year. On our CSDP missions, including Lebanon, we will highlight the central role of CSDP, the important contributions it makes to EU security.
This remains a fundamental tool in the EU's toolbox to respond to international crisis. The EU's operations have played a significant role in addressing security challenges right across the world.
Strategic reviews of several of the CSDP missions and operations will take place during the Irish presidency and decisions to amend or to renew missions will be brought to the FAC Defense over the next six months. In tandem with our partners, Ireland has a very proud tradition of contributing to CSDP missions under UN mandate supporting international peace and security. We have contributed to the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon since 1978. We feel it is essential that the international community maintain its support to Lebanon following the conclusion of the mandate in 2026 and withdrawal to follow in 2027. Ireland fully supports EU CSDP efforts including the establishment of a mission along with the European Peace Facility supports as that means of contributing to peace and security in Southern Lebanon.
On the MFF, we're looking forward to the next budget. A lot to do, security and defense will be a central pillar of the European Competitiveness Fund. The ECF represents the Union's strategic response to an increasingly unstable security environment. It is designed to ensure Europe has the industrial depth and technological capability needed for the years ahead. The fund marks a major step change in Europe's investment in preparedness and long-term competitiveness.
Discussions on the next MFF will progress during our presidency, a responsibility that we accept with resolute focus on ensuring that the proposed fund will form a solid framework for Europe's security for the years to come. The SEDE, the committee's opinion on ECF highlights the essential role of SMEs and startups in the European defence ecosystem, and this is an important message that we hear clearly. The ASAP regulation is particularly the answer, or partially the answer, to the challenge of encouraging defence innovation by our SMEs. This is an important step in strengthening Europe's technological edge and overall defence readiness. Timely adoption will be key to ensuring ASAP is operational by January of '27.
This will help to deliver concrete opportunities for industry and capability developments in Europe, and I want to acknowledge the Parliament has made considerable efforts to complete this legislative procedure to allow ASAP to be implemented from the 1st of January next year. As a parliamentarian, I understand the effort and indeed the commitment that it is required to move a proposal at such an accelerated pace, so to thank you for that. We will focus on bringing this file to a conclusion, and we look forward to further constructive engagement with you in the European Parliament tomorrow on the political trilogue. We are committed to maintaining the program's core principles of speed, flexibility, and accessibility. On military mobility, this package considers how to digitalize, how to streamline regulations to aid short-notice, quicker, and more efficient military transport across member states if needed.
In the current challenging international security context, Ireland recognizes the importance of this file for deterrence, for resilience, but also for readiness. I would like to thank the Cyprus presidency for the strong progress made on this file to date, including the agreement of the general approach. Ireland appreciates the proposal's recognition of the full range of member states' security and defense policies and contexts. The Irish presidency intends to continue the rapid progress of this file. Under the Cypriot presidency last week, the European Parliament voted on its negotiating position, and I'd like to take this opportunity again to thank our co-legislators for their willingness to swiftly meet at political trilogue level on this important file, and we see the progression of this file as a priority for our EU presidency.
The Defense Readiness Omnibus, obviously over recent months, significant steps have been taken to move towards a better-functioning European market for defense equipment. The importance of the further integration of the European defense market was highlighted in the recent Council conclusions, and we do welcome the provisional agreement on the Defense Readiness Omnibus package, and I look forward to its adoption and implementation.
I acknowledge that this agreement was a result of some difficult compromises for the Parliament, and acknowledge the very clear message from Parliament in terms of the review of the Defense Procurement Directive and the simplification of transfers of defense products within the Union. We stand ready as presidency to progress any Commission proposals aimed at reducing administrative burden for defense procurement, to promote investment in the European defense technological and industrial base, and to move towards a more integrated defense market. Capability development, a really important piece of work in Europe, is underway in terms of our collective capability development. The White Paper for Defense Readiness and the associated roadmap, they've given direction and drive as to how we address Europe's capability gaps. We will seek to facilitate consensus among member states on realistic, prioritized next steps, particularly on the common European defense projects, or in the European defense projects of common interests.
It's important that they deliver for all member states. On resilience, in this current climate of regional and global uncertainty, advancing the resilience and preparedness agenda is paramount for the Union. The presidency will prioritize the advancements of the key actions from the Preparedness Union Strategy. This entails advancing the Union's capacity to anticipate, to prevent, and to respond to crisis through a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach. Two key deliverables during the presidency will be first supporting the resilience of vital societal functions by the progressing of the EU minimum preparedness requirements.
The Irish Presidency will also facilitate the EU-NATO integration resolve parallel and coordinated exercise or PACE due in November. We will continue to work to counter hybrid threats and to strengthen EU responses to cyber threats, for example through strategic use of the cyber diplomacy toolbox and engagement with partner countries. To conclude, the EU has prioritized full transposition and implementation of the Critical Entities Resilience Directive. The Irish Presidency will build on its recently published national strategy on the resilience of critical entities in this area. We will support wider EU work on critical infrastructure security, including drones and counter-drone measures, cable security and the protection of vital societal functions.
The second, progressing the EU-wide comprehensive risk and threat assessment.
In conclusion, alongside our European partners, Ireland is determined to play its full part in the security and defence agenda of the Union. That is the spirit of the Irish phrase at the very heart of our Presidency: Ní neart go cur le chéile. There is no strength without unity. Míle buíochas as an am agus an aire inniu, thank you for your time and attention today, and I'm very happy to take any questions and again I look forward to working with all of you in the time ahead.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann
Thank you very much, Minister. I will now give the floor to members for a first round of questions in a ping-pong format, two minutes for each questions and two minutes for each reply, and starting with the coordinators, so for the EPP, Rasa.
Rasa Juknevičienė
Sorry for my voice. Challenge number one and concern number one for the majority of the people in European Union is security. Never before, but today it's reality. The European Union today is neither at peace nor in open armed conflict. Adversaries operate deliberately in the grey zone below the threshold of an armed attack.
Rasa Juknevičienė
And we here in SEDE committee tomorrow, we will finalize our own initiative report on hybrid warfare, including EU territorial integrity, critical security. You mentioned something when you talked about this. So the central argument of this report is that the Union must move from a reactive to a proactive posture. And also, I would like to ask you also comment a little bit if your country will be active on that.
We call, this report calls for a cross-domain action plan against hybrid warfare and a single point of coordination between, especially on intelligence and other issues, and especially on between the Commission and the EEAS. So also we mention Article 42.7 to be operationalized for severe hybrid scenarios as well. What is your opinion on on this on those proposals? And I would like to urge you in your ministry to read reports from European Parliament because as I know very few in European Council or member states are taking care of our reports we are elaborating here. We would like to have better cooperation in between European Parliament and Council.
Maybe you will change the game.
Helen MCENTEE
Thank you. Well, certainly I intend to read as much as I possibly can over the next six months, but I'm happy to be directed to the reports that you would suggest that I do read, if not all of them.
But at the outset, I mean, look, I fully agree. I think the EU as a whole needs to ensure that in any of our approaches, be it the European Security Strategy, be it dealing with maritime security, be it dealing with new hybrid and cyber threats that we're now seeing more and more of, that we are proactive in identifying and responding to risks as opposed to responsive, because the types of threats are changing and we know that. So I think in our delivery of the new European Security Strategy, it is absolutely essential that we are looking at this from the perspective of what the risks are, where the risks are coming from, but what the types of risks are. And that's obviously the body of work that we have been doing till now. Yesterday at the Foreign Affairs Committee, we agreed what the common understanding of the various different risks and threats are.
And now it's specifically for the Commission, working with the EEAS and working with all of us, to set out what that strategy needs to look like and, importantly, how we implement it. And that will be our task during the next six months, to set out that roadmap as to how we implement it. In terms of being active and proactive and from Ireland's perspective, I can assure you that Ireland is committed to playing our part. I think perhaps the perception because we are a militarily neutral country that we may not or have not in the past contributed. And while our defense spending has not been at the level of others, we're committed to increasing it.
First and foremost, we've increased our capital budget by 55% in the recent capital plan. We've increased our current spending by 40% in our recent budget and we intend to do more. But beyond that, in critical areas where we are seeing new and emerging risks, particularly in the maritime space, we are determined to do more. And that is why during our presidency, you will see a particular emphasis on maritime security. Some of the greatest risks that we face are not the ground invasions or similar to the land conflict we see happening in Ukraine or in skies as well.
But it is the impact or the the threat to our critical infrastructure, our subsea cables, our gas or energy pipelines. And so we need to be proactive in identifying the risks, in being able to work with the defense industry, with our defense forces and as member states to mitigate those risks and to be able to to to preempt the challenges before they emerge. So there will be significant emphasis on maritime security amongst other things during our presidency. In terms of 42.7, you know, this from our perspective is is an extremely useful and important instrument for member states to come to each other's aid.
But the work now at the moment is obviously the review as to how the institutions may be involved and how if required by a member state institutions could potentially come to their aid. So we will support that work by the institutions at the moment and that review in itself once it is completed. I think it's a matter of making sure that we engage with all member states, that we engage with the parliament, with the institutions themselves as to how we move it forward. But from Ireland's perspective, I think the last time we engaged in it was 2015 when France sought assistance from member states. And so we can see how important it is and how we need to make sure it is as effective as possible.
Sven Mikser
Yes, thank you very much, Minister, and thank wish you all all the luck with a very ambitious agenda. We know obviously that that the legislative agenda of any any holder of the rotating presidency is limited by what has been left on your table by the preceding presidency as well as what comes out of the of the of the commission. Anyway, I'm very glad to see that that one of the overriding priorities in the security area is the support for Ukraine. And obviously your ambitious enlargement agenda is part of that because with regard to to Ukraine, obviously it's important the enlargement agenda has very important security implications as well.
But we were all disappointed by the failure to find agreement with regard to the 21st sanctions package during the last Council meeting. And and and so my my first question is how do you see the possibilities of actually pushing the the the support for Ukraine ahead in a situation where different member states seem to have different attribute different degree of priority and urgency to to to that vis-à-vis other other other other competing policy areas? And secondly, you mentioned the cooperation with NATO and and UN and the OSCE. I I noticed that in on your presidency website, it's a slightly different order. It's UN, OSCE and NATO.
And obviously the the recent NATO summit was a moderate success, but only when measured against the very, very low expectations ahead of the summit meeting. So what opportunities do you see to to actually pursuing and pushing forward the the transatlantic security agenda and and cooperation, especially with our transatlantic allies and and NATO allies? Thank you.
Helen MCENTEE
Thank you very much, Sven. Um, so on the situation, um, you know, as you've rightly outlined and as I outlined in my statement, we see enlargement as being a really important security mechanism for Ukraine. And so we want to see as much progress as possible in the opening of all clusters. Today I welcome the fact that Ukraine and Moldova the sixth cluster was opened and we will work over the next number of months to see the remainder six.
We do believe that it's a merit-based process and we need to work through those steps. I have engaged with President Zelenskyy and with the members of their government around the other proposals perhaps of interim measures, but I think the preferred option is that we work through the merit-based system and that we aim for full membership and that we continue with the approach that is currently on the table. In terms of the 21st sanctions package, so we haven't given up on that yet. We're working on it at the moment. Actually there are meetings taking place now and while there wasn't an agreement at the Foreign Affairs Council, we're very keen that there would be an agreement by tomorrow where the oil price cap obviously there's an adjustment due to happen and this is very much part of the current sanctions package.
I would say and my own view is having started this particular role since last November, every member state has been extremely keen and ambitious to progress the sanctions packages. I appreciate that we had a blockage for some time and I very much welcome the changed approach by the current Hungarian government, but from what I have seen member states and countries are very determined to impose as many sanctions as possible because they're working.
Every time we meet with Minister Sybiha, every time we meet with Ukrainian officials or ministers, their very clear view is that the sanctions are working. It's having an economic impact, it's impacting their ability to wage this war. So we are determined that we will continue. We want to get the 14th over the line, but how do we do more beyond that as well? So that will be a priority.
In terms of our cooperation, and I'm not sure if it was intentional in terms of the way in which it was laid out, as far as I'm concerned, all three are equally as important. And I think we need to have strategic approaches for all of them. With the UN, obviously, you have UNGA coming up in September, and this is a really important opportunity for the EU to engage on many issues, but in particular on peace and security. And there are a number of quite significant areas, be it Ukraine, situation in the Middle East. I think there's over 180 different conflicts in the world at the moment, more than we've seen in many decades.
And so there is a real need for us to work through the UN, through that multilateral rules-based system, and to protect it while it is under attack and under huge strain at the moment. From a NATO perspective, with 23 member states obviously members of NATO, that relationship, I mean, it has to go hand in hand.
Even from Ireland's perspective as a neutral country or a militarily neutral country, we are part of 12 Partnership for Peace programs within NATO. So I mean, there are so many ways in which we need to continue to work together and to cooperate more closely and all the more because of the challenging relationships perhaps that we are experiencing or because of the change dynamic with our US colleagues and others, we need to make sure that we are working on those relationships and that the EU is playing its part as well. I would say that while President Trump and others have been more direct in saying the EU needs to do more itself, other presidents before him have said that, perhaps maybe not in as direct a way or perhaps not taking the same approach. So I think we need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to strengthen our own security and defense while at the same time making sure that that relationship remains strong because it is our greatest security guarantee, working closely with our trusted partners, with our closest allies. That is the main way that I believe we will strengthen our security and defense.
Pierre-Romain Thionnet
Merci, Madame la Présidente. Je poserai ma question en français. Madame la Ministre, merci. L'Irlande assure la présidence du Conseil dans un moment particulièrement important et intense.
Les défis sont nombreux et les dossiers ouverts par l'Union en matière de sécurité et de défense plus nombreux encore. Cela fait maintenant plus de quatre ans qu'un certain nombre d'actions et de programmes ont été lancés visant à faciliter le réarmement des États européens. Lorsqu'il s'agit de déverrouiller des contraintes, d'inciter à investir, de créer un environnement normatif et financier favorable aux investissements de défense et à la production et l'innovation, ceci va dans le bon sens. Mais pour notre groupe, la solution à la montée en force de l'Europe ne viendra pas d'une intégration supplémentaire ou de l'idée que les États membres sont les obstacles tandis que la Commission serait l'échelon nécessaire pour se substituer à eux. Pour être efficace, légitime et réaliste, nous pensons que c'est la vision intergouvernementale et confédérale qui doit seule gouverner.
Madame la Ministre, quelle vision avez-vous du rôle des institutions européennes en matière de défense ? Quel rôle doit jouer selon vous ou non la Commission européenne ? Je voudrais également que vous puissiez partager avec nous l'ambition de la présidence irlandaise en matière d'autonomie stratégique européenne. Ce vocabulaire fait désormais officiellement partie des objectifs européens et d'ici la fin de l'année, l'Union européenne publiera une stratégie de sécurité européenne.
Qu'est-ce que l'autonomie stratégique pour vous ? Est-ce dépenser plus, acheter plus d'équipement, remplacer des capacités américaines qui vont être retirées ou est-ce aussi une plus grande autonomie de décision, d'action et de réflexion de la part des États européens quant à leurs propres intérêts ? En clair, la présidence irlandaise assume-t-elle de dire qu'elle souhaite que les Européens soient plus indépendants des États-Unis d'Amérique qu'ils ne le sont aujourd'hui ? Je vous remercie.
Helen MCENTEE
So I think if we are to look at the European security strategy and how it is being developed and formed, it is with each member state outlining our own risks, our own constitutional positions and our priorities in this space. While at the same time all countries coming together to identify what are the common risks, what are the threats, what has changed in recent years. And I think that's a really important thing we have to recognize and acknowledge, the types of risks have changed in a very short space of time and are we capable of responding to them.
I do believe that we can produce and provide a European security strategy that reflects and protects the constitutional positions of each member state. While you have a small number of countries that are militarily neutral, that shouldn't prevent us from working more closely together. And what you will see from Ireland is through our presidency, obviously we want to chair the views of all member states, but we want to ensure that we are working closely together. We recognize, as I think all do, the need for us to spend more. If we look at the last European budget, the ambitions and the priorities there, while many of them haven't changed, there is a new and renewed focus on the need for more money on defense and security more broadly, and we fully agree with that.
It's how do we do that and how do we allocate that in terms of more materials. You know, I think the various different packages that you'll see being developed and progress very much focus on the need for us, be it in procurement, be it in certain industries or capabilities, that we are working more closely together, that we are learning from each other and that we're working with our trusted partners as well. The question around the US, I think we have to accept the fact that the relationship has changed, whether it's more or less. My view, personal view, although I'm here as presidency, is that the US will always be our most important partner from a security perspective.
But we have to work with the relationship, focus on developing how we can work more closely together and where there are differences or challenges that we work to overcome them as well, while at the same time the EU being very clear as to what our positions are, being very clear as to what it is that we stand for and what it is and who we support and what our risks and what our threats are as well. So I think it's no one approach, I think there are a number of things that we need to look at and we need to reinforce. But I also think we have a lot of other strategies and programs and training programs, we have different partnerships, we have different ambitions that are already underway. How do we bring them together? How do we enhance them?
How do we make them work better? That needs to be part of the new strategy as well, that we're focused on what works well, how do we work well together now and how do we enhance that and how do we build on that too.
Mārtiņš Staķis
Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister, for your speech. And I'm very glad you also mentioned the defense innovations in your speech. You also mentioned that agile will partly solve those challenges. Well, what are the other solutions you can find in my report? We will discuss this in September, October.
But my question is, I understand that the Commission is preparing the communication on the single market for defense. And one of the main findings from our work on defense innovations is that the lack of mutual recognition of defense product certification across Member States is a major barrier for innovative companies trying to scale across Europe. Does the Presidency see scope for the Council to support the proposal for a new defense certification directive based on mutual recognition, build on NATO recent work on innovative innovation badges, so that products who are certified once can be recognized across of Europe? And that's how we can move also to the one single market for defense. Thank you.
Helen MCENTEE
Thank you very much. Yeah, I, what you will see throughout our Presidency, we have identified three key priority areas: competitiveness, security, and values.
And I would include Ireland in that. We don't traditionally have a defense industry. However, we have many SMEs that are developing significant and important technology, be it in space and maritime surveillance, be it in subsea cable surveillance, be it in many other ways as well. So it is important that all enterprises and small and medium enterprises have an opportunity to innovate, but to do so in an ecosystem where we are working together and where we are sharing and supporting each other in that sense. So I think we need to make sure that important steps can be taken, be it through the Defense Readiness Omnibus, where again I appreciate there's more we need to do in that regard.
And I hope that we will have a presentation of the procurement directive certainly during our presidency. And I think that's something that we can work on together. And I think that's something that we can work on together. And I think that's something that we can work on together. And I think that's something that we can work on together.
And I think that's something that we can work on together. And I think that's something that we can work on together. And I think that's something that we can work on together.
So I think we need to make sure that important steps can be taken, be it through the Defense Readiness Omnibus. But again, I appreciate there's more we need to do in that regard. And I hope that we will have a presentation of the procurement directive, certainly during our presidency, that we will be able to progress as well. But I think there's certainly more that we can do. And when it comes to making it easier, simplification will be a key thing that you'll see through our presidency more broadly.
Lynn Boylan
Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, agus fáilte arís, Minister McEntee. And I recognize that we both come from a neutral member state. And correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think you mentioned neutrality in your opening remarks. But we both are aware that citizens have repeatedly expressed their opposition to any notion of the transformation of the EU into a defense union in multiple referendums. And in fact, instead, we come from a proud legacy of peacebuilding.
And crucially, that peacebuilding, and it's never been more important, I think, for our collective security. And yet it is only mentioned, I think, three times in your program, but never in the context of seeking additional funding or support for peacebuilding. Instead, I think what we've seen is public, EU public money being promised to the already hugely profitable defense industry at the expense of spending on citizens' well-being.
This happened with the Act in Support of Ammunition Production and more recently with the SAFE regulation. So I want to ask, under the Irish presidency, will you be pushing for more due diligence on where this money is going? For example, last year we saw reports that EU subsidiaries of Israeli companies were receiving funding under the European Defence Fund. And the Commission have also confirmed to me that funding under SAFE can be used for cluster bombs and anti-personnel mines. So when will the Irish presidency, or what will the Irish presidency be doing to ensure that European taxpayers' money are not funding war criminals and war crimes?
And then finally, your program refers to the need for strong security and defense partnerships with like-minded non-EU states, the UN, the OSCE, and NATO. But in your response, I think, to S&D, you said you believe that the UN and NATO are equally important. I would I would wonder if that is, you know, whether you actually mean that they are both equally important. And I'd also ask whether or not you believe that a neutral country can engage in a security and defense partnership with a NATO member and still refer to themselves as being neutral.
Helen MCENTEE
Thank you. So I don't think there is any suggestion from an Irish perspective or during our presidency that our neutrality would be called into question, and there's certainly no intention from the Irish government's perspective to change that. You can be a militarily neutral country and still form partnerships to ensure that we protect our citizens, to ensure that we protect our economic security, that we protect our critical infrastructure, and that we respond to new and emerging threats. So I do think the two are mutually compatible, and I do think that we can have close working relationships. And that is why I was very clear, I think, in my answer on the European security strategy, that every member state had an opportunity to present our priorities, our concerns, our objectives for the next strategy, and that includes any country that is neutral, and Ireland is obviously not the only one in that regard.
What you will see clearly, and apologies, it was in my answer for one of the previous responses around what we do next, is the ambition for Ireland to highlight and to reinforce the need for a focus on peacebuilding.
I mentioned Lebanon in my opening statement. We have for decades, along with many other member states, been present on the ground in peacekeeping missions, not just in Lebanon, but in many parts of the world. And that ambition continues, and that must form part of any security strategy. The funding that goes into CSDP missions, the funding that goes into many of the different programs, again, this is focused on peacebuilding, and we need to make sure that that remains a priority, and that certainly will remain a priority. In terms of SAFE, this is about, I suppose, our overall preparedness as a Union.
This is about responding to immediate challenges, and I appreciate that for many member states, particularly those that are directly impacted and currently already being impacted by Russia's aggression against Ukraine, that is more immediate in that sense, in that physical sense. But we also need to be looking at how we can use SAFE to prepare ourselves more broadly for risks as they may emerge. And I think it should be an opportunity for us to work more closely together again.
I think what you'll see during our presidency is the ambition that we work closely to address risks, to mitigate them, but that does not mean building a defense union. That means making sure that we respect the constitutional position of every member state while at the same time acknowledging and recognizing that there are risks and that we should be working collectively together to mitigate and to respond to them while advocating for peace, while working with significant partners like the UN, but also making sure that our alliances with NATO and with other organizations are front and center as well.
Pekka Toveri
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Madam Minister. As we just heard, people standing behind other people's back are very eager to talk against defense. It's great to hear that Ireland is putting some effort to defense because we Northern Eastern Europeans who are barricading the gate, it's nice to know that the back door is not totally open. But when we talk about support to Ukraine, we've seen that willingness to support Ukraine is going down, Ireland being one of the smallest contributors in EU, for example.
So are you going to take, since people are not ready to use their own money, is there any action you are going to do about the Russian frozen assets? You know, because that's a big lot of money which can be used so that save our money for our own defense instead of supporting Ukraine, which they really need.
Another thing is that sanctions are extremely important to put hamper Russia's aggression and killing of Ukrainians. And there we know all the challenges we have, but it's as important as showing and putting sanctions to Russia, it's also important to clean your own house. And all European countries have problems here, my home country Finland included. We haven't done our homework. There are still Russian businesses operating in Finland.
Is Ireland going to lead by example by taking care of the aluminum factory you have providing aluminum for the Russian defense industry, which is returning them on as missiles to Ukraine? And and if so, I understand there's some kind of review going on, how fast are you going to act because it would be great if it would happen before the presidency of Ireland ends. Thank you.
Helen MCENTEE
Thank you. So in terms of our own support for Ukraine, I'm not sure I had a figure previously suggested to me that it was 100 million, so we've provided 505 million to Ukraine so far. And we have supported about 120,000 Ukrainian citizens that have come to Ireland and that receive support there.
So we are continuously looking at ways in which we can directly provide support, be it to those in our country or be it direct financial support. And we will increase that and we'll provide more this year on top of the money allocated. But you're right, we need to go beyond that as well. So every time I meet with our Ukrainian colleagues, be it in the Defense or the Foreign Affairs Council, they advocate for that direct bilateral support, but also for the European-wide response, which is the most significant support. Frozen assets were discussed last year by the Council.
We fully supported this, but there wasn't an ability to unlock objections within the Council. But that's not to say this matter won't come back, but it has been discussed and there has been a lot of back and forth on it previously. What was decided upon was the Ukraine support loan, which was agreed, as you'll know, last December, but became blocked because of particular positions that were taken. I welcome, as I mentioned earlier, the change in approach from the Hungarian government, which has allowed the loan to be opened. The first disbursement has happened in recent weeks and we will advocate now for as much of that as possible to be provided.
In terms of the sanctions, you know, I think when you look at the list of sanctions, even the most recent package, you have 200 new individuals that are being sanctioned. You have particular sanctions on crypto. You have sanctions on LNG tankers, sanctions on maritime and other areas as well. And while there are some issues we need to resolve, I'm confident that the ambition from all member states is that we would reach another package of sanctions because they are working. As I mentioned earlier, all of the other support, financial, that we're providing to Ukraine, the support for defense equipment, in particular air defense, is essential, but also the pressure on Russia from an economic perspective is essential.
There's also more work that I feel we can do in the maritime space with the Russian shadow fleet. So, for example, even in Ireland this week, I will conclude legislation that will allow our own defense forces to be in a much easier way able to board, direct, and to engage with shadow fleet to be able to deter them. So we need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to deter. On Aughinish, we are conducting a review at the moment, which will be concluded shortly. So we have been engaged with the Commission throughout this.
We met President Zelenskyy two weeks ago and discussed this with him as well. And we've been very clear that we do not want to play any part in any material or finance or in any way that contributes to their war in Ukraine. And so once that review is concluded, we'll continue to engage with the Commission on this. The plant itself provides a lot of alumina to the rest of Europe. So obviously we have to take other elements into consideration.
But I think it's important that we get the facts first.
And if there are changes that are needed, if there are proposals there, we will work with the Commission. We're very clear that we do not want any material that is going to Russia that is contributing to this conflict. And that is why we're conducting the review and that's why we've been working closely with the Commission on this.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann
Thank you very much. So we have three more questions. Tobias Cremer from S&D.
Tobias Cremer
Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you for being here and laying out the program. And as you mentioned very correctly, I think security and defense are right now the main concerns of our citizens. In particular because we know we are luckily not at war, but we also understand we are not at peace anymore either. And that is particularly true when it comes to the hybrid space.
We are seeing already attacks on our infrastructure by Russia, drones over our airports, whenever we start discussing frozen assets, but also assassination attempts on European soil. But in some way actually perhaps the most dangerous attacks in the hybrid sphere by Russia and other actors are the attacks on our, on the fabric of our society.
We see armies of trolls in our social media. We see the instrumentalization also of extremist parties, including some in this house, who are parroting Russian speaking points, who are trying to really create polarization within our societies and exploit them. Some countries, some like Norway, for instance, have addressed that also in their national security strategy, speaking, for instance, of a holistic idea of security, speaking about social cohesion, social trust, trust in democratic institutions as part of the security architecture. So I'd just be very intrigued what your vision of security is for the security strategy and whether we will see such a holistic approach that sees security not just in terms of defense, but also in terms of social security and domestic security. Thank you.
Helen MCENTEE
Thank you. Can I say I think this is a challenge that we're all grappling with, something that has, you could say, crept up on us, but at the same time is now one of the biggest challenges that we face, and that is misinformation, disinformation. It's, it's hybrid attacks in a way that we perhaps have never anticipated. And we are seeing it cause significant challenges in countries and member states.
We've experienced it at home in Ireland, as I'm sure many other member states have as well, where in a very short space of time, a particular opinion or an approach is taken that is able to mobilize or to rapidly escalate situations that cause disunity and disruption as well. So I think we're all grappling with this in a local way, but also from a European perspective as well, we're seeing its effects ripple throughout the EU. So what we want to ensure is that during our presidency, there's a focus on further enhancing the efficiency of the EU's response, that we have a more coordinated response, and that we pay particular attention to foreign information and manipulation and interference, so the FIMI, FIMI more generally, that we're able to progress this, which continues to grow in scale and I think in sophistication as well in the way that it is being applied. So there are a number of different files that we hope to progress with this particular emphasis. I think also if you look at certain files like the DSA and the DMA as well, where there maybe are challenges that are emerging with our partners across the Atlantic, at the same time these new measures are being put in place to protect consumers, to ensure that in so far as possible we are preventing disinformation, criminal information from being posted online.
And beyond that then as well, I think we need to look at how we're protecting our children.
So during our presidency you will see a particular emphasis on protecting young people online because so much of this is cultivated at an early stage, and that will require a whole of EU response. In Ireland, as other member states are, we are bringing forward different proposals, but I firmly believe that an EU-wide response is what is needed here. And we've heard this week obviously the Commission setting out possible proposals, and we'll hear more I believe during the State of the Union address. But we are ambitious that we would look at how we can protect children online, how we can mitigate from some of the damaging effects, but also how we can mitigate from some of the misinformation, disinformation, but the very targeted manipulation that is happening online as well. And that requires working with social media companies, it requires working with governments, it requires working with parents, it requires a whole of society response.
But we're really, really keen that we can have an impact in our time in the six months ahead.
Thijs Reuten
Thank you very much, Chair, and good to see you again. This morning I asked you a question on Ukraine and I said that I have high expectations of your presidency. In this committee my role is more to be more impatient. So, yeah, but I'm very serious about this because this is a serious matter. I and repeatedly many colleagues have said that also in the plenary, we see a complete lack of sense of urgency with the member states when it comes to our collective security, our collective security.
And on our collective territorial security there cannot be any misunderstanding.
That has nothing to do with neutrality or anything, because our territorial defense from Finland to Portugal, from Ireland to Cyprus, is a collective responsibility. And what do we see? We see member states that continue to spend nationalist in a nationalist way, national spending, nationalist reflexes. The list with failures is growing. The FCAS project, countries that say, oh yes, we do a defense bank, oh let's do another defense bank.
That's a failure. It's a failure that we have now two defense banks. So I really want to ask you sincerely, how are you going to push your colleagues to get serious on 42.7, on the change of the doctrine and also on joint procurement, for example, because as we sit here all of us have been contributing to legislation, to reports in the last six months. I would say read them, because there are suggestions in there, the CSDP report, the internal market report, what have you. We have set out the agenda.
The Commission is not the problem, Commissioner Kyriakides is not the problem, we are not the problem, the member states are the problem and I really hope that you can move it.
Helen MCENTEE
I mean, look, you're right, being neutral doesn't mean as a country that we can't drive this agenda and to reassure people that we are keen that where we have not just agreement but where we need to do more that Ireland will be that presidency to do that. And I do appreciate and I very much feel the frustration perhaps in the room and we had a discussion earlier about the pace at which things are moving. It is important though that we do have all Member States with us when we're moving and that is often the challenge and I say that from experience sitting around with all Member States as you have the same experience here with other countries, it is making sure that we can move together and that whether it's in legislation, whether it's the omnibus package, whether it's the military mobility package, that what we're what we're progressing is implementable as well. And that is often I think in particular for the military mobility package, for example, making sure that what we progress because we're working with individual defense armies within each Member State because we're looking at changes around online and technology and mobility more generally that we can implement things.
So we want to be ambitious, but we need to make sure that what we progress is implementable as well. On the 42.7, you know, again, the review that's happening at the moment, it is to see how the institutions can do more if needed. But we would see this as an assistance clause, and that is how it has been progressed, and that is how it has developed and how it has worked in recent years. But I think there is more we can build on with it, and that's what's happening at the moment, and we will certainly bring forward any proposals or changes that are there. But it is important that we, I suppose, that we don't wait around for other member states to move, but we do have to bring people with us.
And I say this as a country where perhaps we didn't focus enough on security and defense, we didn't spend enough. That is changing now. We are spending more, we are focused on our capabilities, we're focused on working more closely with partners. We're doing a lot already, actually, that we don't talk enough about, but we're doing a huge amount in working with others. But we need to make sure we bring people with us, and that is happening in Ireland as it is in other countries as well.
And we don't have time to wait for people to get to that point, but we do have to bring them with us as well. And I think that's really important. So it's trying to move while also bringing people with us, and that's the approach that we will take.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann
So we have no time anymore, but we have two looking for, so maybe you could make it quick, Christian. Do you want to ask something, and then José, but maybe you speed up and then we close.
Kristian Vigenin
Sorry, I'll try and be quicker. I'll be as quick as possible. Thank you, Minister, for your presentation and a successful presidency to you. One different aspect on my side.
You know, the recent crisis have demonstrated that Europe's security is no longer defined only by conventional military threats. Health preparedness, resilient health systems and the capacity to develop and manufacture medical countermeasures are now an integral part of our collective security. I skip part of the explanation, but Public Health Committee has an opinion on competitiveness fund where we raise those issues. We ask for ring-fenced funding for measures as such countermeasures, medical countermeasures, vaccine, antimicrobial manufacturing and so on. Does your presidency consider ring-fenced funding a sensible approach in the next multiannual financial framework?
And would it support dedicated financial envelopes for these strategic health preparedness measures? So it's very concrete question, but I think you have an idea about that. Thank you so much.
José Cepeda
Yes, thank you. Voy a hablar en español.
Bueno, voy a intentar ser muy rápido y muy conciso. Okay, okay, okay, okay, wait. Thank you. Bueno, yo rápidamente por citar algunas cuestiones que me parecen de sumo interés, primero agradecerle mucho su presentación y dos cosas muy rápido. Ha puesto de relieve algo que me parece de extraordinaria importancia y es todo lo que tiene que ver con la ciberseguridad, las ciberamenazas, ¿no?
De hecho, alguna experiencia han tenido en su país con todo el sistema de salud hace poco, ¿no? Por lo tanto, me gustaría saber hasta qué punto cree que es importante por parte de la presidencia que ustedes van a liderar ser capaces de montar un único sistema para tener respuestas en tiempo real a todas las ciberataques que se están desarrollando. No hay un sistema, no hay un proyecto, no hay ni tan siquiera un centro que pueda dar respuesta a la velocidad de la luz a las nuevas ciberamenazas que, por ejemplo, con el desarrollo de las nuevas inteligencias artificiales norteamericanas, estoy hablando de los nuevos modelos de Anthropic o de OpenAI, Europa pueda dar respuesta a ello. Por lo tanto, yo creo que esto es una cuestión de extrema urgencia. Y todo ello, y la segunda parte de mi pregunta y con esto concluyo, tiene que ver también con la parte de la inteligencia, ¿no?
Tenemos 27 sistemas de inteligencia, cada uno operando y en base a su seguridad nacional. ¿Cómo es posible dar una respuesta en una inteligencia colectiva? ¿Quién se encarga de la inteligencia de toda Europa si cada uno va a lo suyo, ¿no?
Y me gustaría saber su punto de vista sobre este desarrollo que está pendiente de implementar. Muchas gracias.
Helen MCENTEE
In terms of our overall preparedness and resilience, I fully agree with you that it's not just a focus on investment in capabilities, in military spending. It is being prepared to respond to, whether it's COVID and the impact that that's had on our overall security, whether it's cyber threats or issues as they emerge, whether it's food security. All of these areas we need to be looking at it in the round. How that is developed, we are over the next number of months, over the next two months, over the summer months, going to be engaging extensively with all member states on the EU budget, on the overall figure, but also on the various different strands, what priorities are and how we, I suppose, how we by the end of the year reach an overall figure, which is the target. And we're certainly keen to get to that point.
But how we then within the overarching three priority areas, how that money is spent. And when we look at security and defence, I do believe that we need to look at that in a rounded way, not just perhaps in the more traditional spending way. But I think that's something that we have to work through with member states and we have to assess where there is a common ground in all of this.
On cybersecurity, I think the idea for developing a horizontal regime was raised back in 2025 by the Commission political guidelines, and this is looking at countering hybrid threats, but doing so in a unified way. We have lots of different areas where we are developing hubs that would be able to respond to issues in a unified way. So in its recent conclusions on advancing our capacity around hybrid threats, the Council have said that they're ready to explore looking at this proposal from 2025 again. So this is something that I think we could perhaps use as a vehicle or a mechanism. And beyond that then, in terms of obviously we have Europol and we have other mechanisms and ways in which our police are engaging, but we also have structures where our intelligence service or our defence forces are engaging.
And depending on different countries, intelligence is, so again, I can say Ireland in particular, intelligence, much of it is through our police, but obviously there is defence intelligence as well. So there are different structures whereby there is crossover and it's about making sure that we are sharing in so far as possible in the best way possible.
But I think we always need to be open to, and particularly during the development of the new European security strategy, look at are our structures working, are they as effective as they can be, and how do we improve them? As I mentioned earlier, it's not about starting from scratch with the security strategy, it's looking at what structures do we have, are they working? You know, and I think a perfect example recently, while it's through the Justice Committee, we have a new sharing mechanism which has immediately been able to identify who's coming in and out of the EU in a way that hadn't been done before. And that in itself is an improvement in our overall security apparatus. So I think there's constantly ways that we're improving it, but perhaps if we had that overarching picture as to what's working now, we might have a better way of improving it.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann
Minister, thank you very much for your time. It's a great honor and very important for you that you came to SEDE Committee. So our next meeting, colleagues, is tomorrow, 9:00, and we will continue with the coordinators. So thank you very much for your time and good luck.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
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