Mr. Olli Ruutu:

I should have thanked the committee for inviting us and giving us the opportunity to share how we, as an agency of the member states, see this developing. We have had some hearings in member states' parliaments. We welcome such opportunities because we have seen an increasing interest in co-ordinating and planning activities more jointly than previously. The political direction and guidance will be given by the member states and their parliaments but the earlier we are able to create an understanding of planning in national defence reviews and other documents, the more it will help us to find more opportunities for co-operation. As such, we welcome the opportunity of this meeting and would like to have more invitations like this one. We are grateful for the Irish Parliament's active and engaging approach. We are seeing signs of others doing the same and have been listened to in more and more instances.

I will again refer to the co-ordinated annual review on defence. It is an example that I hope can be used by various parliaments and decision makers throughout the member states. In November 2020, we presented findings on how we viewed the European defence landscape in terms of co-operation. The EU has state-of-the-art and world-leading capabilities in many respects but, in terms of planning jointly and investing together, we are still fragmented. We are not far enough along in making informed decisions on how Europe can do more together.

Through the review, we are starting a process with our colleagues in Ireland's Department of Defence of hearing member states' views on what is important in terms of national as well as regional requirements, including capability requirements, and what member states' technological perspectives are. With this review of and outlook on how European defence is developing, we hope to engage in discussions on and solutions for how to take the situation forward. This landscaping function and the co-ordinated review on defence will be key to making informed decisions. We hope to keep delivering in this regard so as to inform parliaments better.