Defending Europe

On 17-19 March 2016 over 20 members of LYMEC and other ELF-affiliated organisations gathered in Brussels to discuss and exchange views on the military future of Europe. The approaches to the topic were diverse, ranging from the war in Ukraine and EU-Russia relations to military cooperation both within NATO and between the EU countries, as well as security and cyber security. The participants had the opportunity to learn from and share their views with speakers from the European Defence Agency, EU Military Staff, Fokker and Saab as well as two MEPs from ALDE, Jozo Radö and Urmas Paet. The discussions between the participants also played an important part in the workshop. The discussions during the workshop touched upon security and defence from a variety of different angles. The participants got to discuss the relations between EU and NATO, cybersecurity, a prospective European defence union and the defence industry. This publication draws on the debates that took place during the seminar.