The Reflection Paper on the Future of European Defence is intended to stimulate debate about creating the conditions for more defence cooperation, maximising the output and the efficiency of defence spending and providing the European Union and its Member States with the capabilities, structures, tools and financial resources that are needed to fulfil our responsibilities and security needs.

49. Notes the Council’s intention to implement European security of supply arrangements under which the Member States would engage in mutual assistance, responding rapidly to their corresponding defence requirements; is awaiting a Commission roadmap setting out the relevant implementation options for these arrangements and the green paper due to be published on controlling foreign investments in strategic defence companies; welcomes the adoption of the EDA’s enhanced framework arrangement for security of supply between Member States as an important voluntary, legally non-binding, mechanism for the Member States to enhance mutual suppor ...[+++]t and assistance on security of supply; calls on the EDA and the Commission to develop jointly additional means and initiatives to promote EU-wide security of supply and support Member States in implementing the new framework arrangement;

49. Notes the Council’s intention to implement European security of supply arrangements under which the Member States would engage in mutual assistance, responding rapidly to their corresponding defence requirements; is awaiting a Commission roadmap setting out the relevant implementation options for these arrangements and the green paper due to be published on controlling foreign investments in strategic defence companies; welcomes the adoption of the EDA’s enhanced framework arrangement for security of supply between Member States as an important voluntary, legally non-binding, mechanism for the Member States to enhance mutual suppor ...[+++]t and assistance on security of supply; calls on the EDA and the Commission to develop jointly additional means and initiatives to promote EU-wide security of supply and support Member States in implementing the new framework arrangement;

28. Recognises bilateral and regional initiatives such as the 2010 UK-French defence agreements, the Nordic Defence Cooperation and the Baltic Defence Cooperation as important steps for rationalising the use of resources and fill short-term capability gaps; notes the proposals for similar cooperations in other regions, such as among the Visegrád Group countries; takes the view, however, that significant structural gaps remain which need to be addressed in a coordinated fashion at EU level and that, therefore, at a certain point these bilateral or regional arrangements need to be integrated into the wider European perspective, making su ...[+++]re that they contribute to the development of CSDP and do not, in any way, run counter it; in this context, believes that the EDA should be given a role in ensuring overall coherence of efforts and encourages further reflection on how the Treaty provisions on the Permanent Structured Cooperation could be used to provide an overall coordination framework;

30. Takes note that the Franco-British agreement of 2 November 2010 on security and defence cooperation has been indeed launched outside the framework of the Treaty on European Union; hopes nevertheless that this latest attempt at Franco-British collaboration can act as a catalyst for further progress at European level in line with the Union's institutional framework and the logical requirements of rationalisation, interoperability and cost-effectiveness; underlines that the EDA should play a supportive role in this context; considers that the current Franco-British defence ...[+++] cooperation should provide a roadmap for more effective European defence cooperation based on capability planning and mutual dependency; urges the governments of France and the United Kingdom to commit to future European multilateral pooling and sharing arrangements;

In response to Members’ questions, I would also like to point out that these points are all contained in the proposal presented by the Italian Presidency after the Naples Summit; this proposal is available on the Italian Presidency website along with the text of the European defence agreement reached in Brussels on the first day of the new meeting.