The Conference on Research and Innovation in the field of Defence Capabilities was held on Tuesday, March 26, at the Palace of Parliament, Bucharest, under the auspices of the PRESRO.

Beside the Defence Minister Gabriel Le and the Executive Director of the European Defence Agency - EDA, Jorge Domecq, the working sessions of the conference brought together high officials from the defence ministries of the EU countries, European institutions and research centers in the field of defence and defence industry.

The talks had in view the recent evolutions at the level of the EDF but also the opportunities and challenges posed by the research & innovation field to the defence capabilities, the officials focusing on the new prioritization instruments designated for defence research, technology and innovation , as well as harmonizing the research priorities at national and European levels.

This conference offers the adequate professional framework for debating together with high representatives of the defence ministries and research centers on the European industry and institutions, as well as on the opportunities and challenges that have emerged in the field of defence research and innovation. The EDF main goal is competitivity, efficiency and innovation capacity of the EDTIB, which contributes to EU's strategic autonomy and its freedom of action by supporting the collaboration actions and trans-frontier actions among the juridical entities throughout the entire EU.

This fact emphasizes that the EDF role is to support the research both through collaboration and development of the defence products and technologies, thus, using the preparatory actions on defence research (PADR) and the pilot programs of the EDIDP, minister Les said in the opening of the event.

The main objectives of the conference were to evaluate the status of cooperation of defence research in Europe, highlight EDA's role as main forum for research and examine the funds that the European Commission can ensure in order to promote the competitivity of the technological industrial base.

At the same time, the agenda of the reunion consisted in talks referring to the establishment of priorities in the field of research and decision-making on the ways of approaching these priorities at European level. Also, taking into consideration the new emerging threats, the officials emphasized the importance of cooperation in the defence field, expressing opinions and discussing the lessons learned from the Research and Technology (R&T) collaborative projects , which were implemented under the aegis of EDA.

The Press Office