POSTPONED: Implementing the EU's Strategic Compass

This event has been postponed until further notice. Please check back on our website for more information soon.

In October last year the EU’s President Charles Michel declared, “2022 will be the year of European defense”. While Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has dominated the landscape, in March the EU released its long-awaited Strategic Compass: an ambitious roadmap for strengthening the EU's security and defense policy over the next decade. It comes as the EU has taken bold action in Ukraine, including the provision of 2 billion euros of military assistance for the Ukrainian Armed Forces through its European Peace Facility.

The Strategic Compass is just as important to nations outside the EU as it is to members of the bloc. The US and the UK each have an important relationship with the EU and a vested interest in the Compass and the EU’s role in European security. In December, the US and EU established a new dialogue on security and defense and committed to “the fullest possible involvement of the United States in EU defense initiatives.” The first meeting under the dialogue was held at the end of March to coordinate their efforts to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Despite a lack of formal cooperation framework, the UK and the EU have managed to work pragmatically together on defense and security in the wake of Russia’s invasion to coordinate sanctions, military assistance, and to address energy dependence. The UK remains deeply invested in the security and prosperity of Europe and is the largest defense spender on the continent. Given their global outlook, both the US and UK will be keen to for the EU to help manage strategic competition with China, whom the Compass identifies as “a partner for cooperation, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival.”

This virtual event will bring together officials from the US, UK, and the EU to discuss the opportunities and challenges of implementing the EU’s Strategic Compass in order to deepen their strategic partnerships at this critical moment for European security. Panelists will include Angus Lapsley, Director of Euro-Atlantic Security at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO); Molly Montgomery, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; and Dr. Alison Weston, Deputy Director of the Security Defence Policy Directorate in the European External Action Service. This conversation will be moderated by Max Bergmann, Director of the Europe, Russia, Eurasia Program at CSIS.

This event is made possible by the generous support of the British Defence Staff (United States).