Mr. Olli Ruutu:

I would reaffirm what I was saying earlier. The EDA's role is really to support capability development co-operation. We are about collaborative opportunities. It is based on the logic that all member states can join those areas of co-operation that they wish to, whether it is cyberdefence or any other requirement, such as strategic lift, based on work that we initiated ten years ago relating strategic lift or air-to-air refuelling. These capabilities were also used in the evacuations from Afghanistan. We are trying to support development of new capabilities and to support operational issues, including crisis management or any other requirements that individual member states have. Our approach is based on member states voluntarily engaging in any activities they have sought co-operation for. This is our mandate. It is a mandate in the treaties and it was further reinforced recently in light of the changes in the security environment. We are there for collaborative approaches based on each member state's requirements. That answers the question about our role.

The Deputy referred to priorities. They are based on a methodology where all member states bring matters that are important for them to the table. In this collaborative discussion, we came up with 11 priorities, which were established in 2018, relating to capability development. They cover all domains. Cybersecurity is one. We have to make sure that the European Union's capabilities in the long term are prepared and resilient. This is the approach and the work that the agency advocates.