DEFIS

• Putting in place measures to support Europeans in weathering the energy crisis;
• Supporting the business environment, particularly small and medium enterprises, to strengthen Europe’s future competitiveness;
• Cutting the EU’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and working closely with reliable suppliers;
• Investing further in renewable energy and hydrogen, in particular;
• Leading globally on climate adaptation and protecting our nature;
• Continuing to stand up for democracy, at home and across the world, and for the rule of law.

In a follow-up email to staff, DEFIS Director-General Timo Pesonen underlines “a number of elements which relate, directly or indirectly, to DG DEFIS’ competences […]. DG DEFIS will of course deliver on these initiatives under the leadership of Commissioner Thierry Breton”.

The Galileo constellation is managed by two Control Centres.
In 2021, both GCCs were upgraded, enhancing their capabilities to support among others, Launch and Early Orbit Phase operations.

The DG DEFIS delegation included also Director Catherine Kavvada, Acting Director Evi Papantoniou, Head of Unit B1 Christoph Kautz, and Hugues Parmentier.

Next to workshops and watching the SOTEU together, two panel discussions took place – one on REPowerEU and the second one on the European Security and Defence Policy.

To the latter, Head of Unit Sylvia Kainz-Huber from DG DEFIS A2 discussed the status of the European Security and Defence Policy – together with Andrea Rotter, Head of Division for Foreign and Security Policy, Hanns-Seidel Stiftung and Benedikt Franke, CEO of the Munich Security Conference.

The panel was moderated by Prof. Uli Brückner, Team Europe Direct.

Organised by IDD Portugal, under the auspices of the Portuguese Ministry of Defence, the Symposium gathered officials from the Commission, EDA, NATO and EEAS.

Portugal will host its national EDF Info Day on 21 September, spread the word!

With over 110 participants, the appetite was high to discover more about the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation that sets out a framework for common purchasing of military capabilities.

We wish her a warm welcome and all the best in her new position.

Job-shadowing opportunities: colleagues interested in getting to know better the work of other units will have an opportunity to do some job-shadowing during a few days.

Thank you to those who have already applied. If you are interested in taking a part in either mentoring or/and job-shadowing in the coming months and haven’t come forward yet, please email the HR Correspondent by 30 September.

In each video, a different pair of randomly matched colleagues take informal and mostly non work-related questions, allowing us to get casually acquainted with one another.

As for parts 1 (Monica and Bastien), 2 (Vera and Marco) and now 3, the next episodes 4 and 5 will be available on DEFIS Channel.

Giorgio Trichilo, Savino Rua (Dir. B); Isabella Poldrugo, Luigi Schirinzi, Antonio Piccirillo, Antonio Danesi, Mauro Facchini, Attilio Gambardella, Luca Fasano, Elena Benvenuti (Dir. C); Giancarlo Granero, Andrea Matiz (01); Christoph Kautz, Paul Flament, Maria Fernandez Molinero.

Please contact Fabio Liberti for more information.

In fact, without critical raw materials, we will not lead the digital decade and will not be able to develop our defence capabilities either.

We are experiencing a global race for the supply and recycling of critical raw materials.

To act fast, with ambition, and according to our European values and standards, we will put forward a European Critical Raw Materials Act as announced on Thursday 15 September.

“When it comes to digital, […] we also urgently need a strong cyber shield for Europe with an EU infrastructure of interconnected security operational centres to faster detect potential attacks and react jointly – a cyber equivalent of our border and coast guards.

“On defence, the EU instrument on common procurement we presented in July to reinforce European defence industrial capacities is admittedly of small magnitude in terms of budget. To live up to our ambition, we need to put our money where our mouth is and mobilise a much more significant budget”, warns Commissioner Breton.

In addition, Guy Verhofstadt and Hilde Vautmans (Renew Belgian MEPs) supported the creation of a Defence Union, that should be on the agenda of the European Convention.

Other MEPs from the ECR group shared the view that NATO’s role should be reinforced further to the accession of Finland and Sweden.

As it responds to crises and challenges, the EU needs a sufficient budget, while not losing sight of EU’s fiscal rules, she added.

Most political groups explicitly commended Finland’s decision to join NATO. Some even called for building a EU defensive system, backed by a European pillar within NATO.

During their interventions, MEPs underscored the need to secure sufficient budget for defence, referring to more investment in defence industry and military mobility. “Democracy and peace have a price”, the EP rapporteur added.

“Thank you for reminding us to reach for the stars, Samantha! We are so proud of you”, said President Metsola

This workshop aims to address Polar resilience, the changing Arctic economy and the changing climate at both poles, and how Copernicus can support monitoring these key aspects and facilitate interactions and discussions between different stakeholders.

The panel will discuss the exploitation potential of dual-use technologies, opportunities for SMEs and start-ups across various (civilian) industrial ecosystems, and future trends.

Speakers include senior experts from the European Commission together with representatives of national defence cluster organisations (Estonia) and companies that will share their user-perspectives.

Policy Officer from Unit A2, Paul Anciaux, will participate in the conference to discuss the role of the ENDR. Registrations remain open until 21 September at 7.30AM.

The activity will be led by educators from Cité de l’Espace, along with Copernicus Support Office experts. The quiz will be offered in English, French and Dutch.

Please inform the Copernicus Support Office if your school is interested in participating in one of the sessions, and with how many students.

With the theme of ‘New Space’, sessions, plenaries, events and demonstrations will cover everything from current and future trends, market forecasts, business opportunities, space-application demonstrations and updates on the EGNOS, Galileo, Copernicus and GOVSATCOM programmes.

From new threats and the ongoing war in Ukraine, to the implementation of the Strategic Compass, the defence investment gaps analysis, the establishment of a European Joint Procurement Framework, the role of R&D and key technologies, in addition to the securing of value chains and financing of the defence & security ecosystem, as well as the ever-growing link between space and defence.

Expected speakers for DG DEFIS: Director-General Timo Pesonen, Defence Industry Director François Arbault, Innovation and Outreach Director Catherine Kavvada.

1. Biodiversity and Coastal Resources – Setting the Scene
2. Biodiversity versus Economic Development
3. Biodiversity Conservation in the Context of Climate Change
4. A Future Green Copernicus for Coastal Ecosystems

The sessions will be a chance to share best practices and case studies, highlight opportunities for coupling digital technologies with science and research, and discuss how industry and businesses can leverage space technologies to help achieve such EU policy goals as the Biodiversity Strategy and Green Deal.

"Space and Defence Ecosystems - Fostering the Digital Economies of EU Regions" to showcase the regional dimension of DEFIS-led initiatives.
DEFIS speakers will be joined by stakeholders from the ENDR Network and CASSINI.