News and activities

  On 9 april 2025, Jan Wind (president Eurodefense Nederland and president of the  Federation of European Defence Technology Associations  (EDTA)) had the opportunity to speak on European Cooperation at the Digital Innovation Summit. During his speech, he explained new intended policies of the European Commission, comments on these proposals as well as several technical issues and recommendations for solutions. European Union Policy Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, European authorities have become increasingly aware of the growing threats to our Union. NATO says we are between peace and war. In this twilight zone, hybrid attacks occur often. Sometimes physical attacks, but numerous cyber-attacks take place every single day on our continent. These attacks target the armed forces, but also governments, critical infrastructure and numerous companies. You all know that . In response, the new European Commission developed an unprecedented programme now called Readin...

  The reform of juste-retour, compensation and Industrial participation 29 May 2024 The Ukraine War has seriously added relevance to questions about effective ways to reshape the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). This is especially true in the EU where the traditional focus on national industry through economic offset and industrial participation has led to scattered development and costly production lines. Current policies of European Member States require compensation or industrial participation for the Defence industry when purchasing capabilities abroad. These are beneficial for the national industry of the Member States in the short and medium term, but complex and a cost driver for industry. In the long term this is not the best economic way forward for the European Union as a whole. National security is still used as main reason for these policies, but interdependence in the EU has risen to a level that strategic autonomy of a single Member State...

Eurodefense Netherlands and the  Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers  organise an  international seminar titled " European Policies for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Defence ". The seminar will take place in  hybrid  form on May 24th at KIVI in The Hague.  Follow this link to register . Early this year, the European Union recently adopted the groundbreaking European Union AI Act, marking a significant milestone in the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. However, this law does not cover defence-related applications of AI. However, the development of AI in the defence sector is just as rapid as in other sectors of society. Therefore,  during our seminar, we will explore the opportunities and challenges of AI for our sector and the potential implications for European policies. Five leading speakers will provide a broad overview of future AI related developments in the defence sector and indicate their implications for exist...

In December 2023 our Dutch member association Royal Society of Engineers (KIVI) submitted  recommendations for the European Defence Industry strategy   to the European Commission. Titled " The future of juste-retour, compensation and Industrial participation " European Union Defence industry The proposal states that in the 21st century interdependence in the EU has risen to a level that strategic autonomy of a single Member State is impossible. Even when export boosts a Member State industry, a certain level of dependence on (sub)systems from other Member States cannot be avoided. Therefore the EU policy is aimed at achieving strategic autonomy of the European Union as a whole.  To reach this goal it is important to change the current market-distorting practice of compulsory offset or industrial participation into a more open market. For this purpose, a new structure is necessary to recognise European companies and allow them to participate within Europe and for exports...

  The Ukraine War has seriously added relevance to questions about effective ways to better arrange defence procurement and the defence industry. This is especially true in the EU where the traditional focus on national industry has led to scattered production and costly manufacturing lines. Join us for a discussion on a draft Eurodefense recommendation to the European Commission on advanced ideas how to plan ahead for a European defence industrial base (EDTIB) that is up to the task of developing and equipping the armed forces of the member states.