The Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG-DEFIS)
What is the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG-DEFIS)?
The Commission's Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) plays a pivotal role in the European Union Space Programme. Its activities include assessing current trends, identifying emerging challenges, and ensuring that the objectives of the Space Programme are aligned with broader EU priorities such as innovation, economic growth, and security.
DG DEFIS plays a crucial role in developing and enforcing the regulatory framework that governs space activities within the EU. This includes ensuring compliance with international treaties, licensing procedures, safety standards, and safeguarding security interests to promote responsible behaviour in space.
DG DEFIS also actively supports the growth and competitiveness of the European space industry. It does this by providing targeted incentives (with a special focus on SMEs), fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors, promoting technology transfers, and facilitating access to finance and markets. Furthermore, DG DEFIS seeks to enhance Europe's global influence by leveraging its resources and engaging with strategic stakeholders, partners and international organisations in international fora, where it promotes peaceful collaboration in the space domain.
What is a Directorate-General (DG)?
The European Commission is organised into policy departments, known as Directorates-General (DGs), which are responsible for different policy areas. DGs develop, implement and manage EU policy, law, and funding programmes.
Examples - Some important DGs:
- Directorate-general DEFIS (Defence Industry and Space).
- Directorate-general Connect (Communications Networks, Content and Technology). It develops and implements policies to make Europe fit for the digital age.
- Directorate-general DIGIT (Digital Services). It is responsible for digital services and infrastructure.
- Directorate-general ENER (Energy). It is responsible for the EU Commission's policies on energy.
The European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS)
Following a comprehensive consultation process with key stakeholders, the Commission and the High Representative, in coordination with the European Defence Agency, present the first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS). The strategy had been announced by Commission President von der Leyen during her 2023 State of the Union speech.
Faced with the return of high intensity warfare in Europe, following Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022, the Union must swiftly enhance its defence readiness.
EDIS is a joint communication of the Commission and the High Representative that sets a vision for the European defence industrial policy until 2035 and announces the following actions:
- Strengthen the European Defence Technology Industrial Base (EDTIB) through increased, more collaborative and European investment from Member States;
- Improve the responsiveness of the European defence industry under any circumstances and time horizon;
- Mainstream a defence readiness culture, including across EU policies;
- Team up with strategic, like-minded and international partners.
How did EDIS prepare this Industrial Strategy?
EDIS follows a comprehensive consultation process with Member States, defence industry, the financial sector and think tanks/academia conducted by the Commission services, together with the European External Action Service in coordination with the European Defence Agency, to inform and enrich the preparation work of this industrial Strategy.
The consultation was based on thematic issue papers and informed by contributions from stakeholders during a series of events (workshops and meetings). Written contributions were also received from numerous stakeholders. In total, 12 workshops were held over a three-month period. In total, the Commission and the High Representative received more than 270 written contributions from over 90 different stakeholders. Furthermore, in order to consider how best to integrate Ukrainian industry considerations into EDIS, a dedicated meeting was organised with Ukraine’s representatives, who also provided further written contributions.
5.3.2024, Joint Communication, A new European Defence Industrial Strategy: Achieving EU readiness through a responsive and resilient European Defence Industry.
For decades the Union’s citizens have enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace. However, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the rising tensions at EU’s doorsteps, call for the EU and its Member States to take up strategic responsibility and power up the EU defence industry to address the unprecedented security threats and challenges they are facing.
A technological cutting edge and capacity to steadily guarantee the availability of any defence equipment are prerequisites to the ability of the Union to guarantee the effectiveness of its Member States’s armed forces and thereby to preserve peace on the continent. This strategy proposes ambitious measures to foster and support the EDTIB’s transformation over the coming decade.
By expanding and complementing existing EU defence industrial policy tools and by outlining the political, industrial, and budgetary ambition to be mobilised in support to the EDTIB, the latter will be empowered to leverage the efficiency gains of a more genuinely integrated defence market and to unleash the untapped potential of scale effects.
The implementation of the strategy will help the European defence industry to be more responsive to urgent needs without sacrificing the future. From earlier and more cooperative investment planning to greater support to industrialisation and joint acquisition; from a more effective incorporation of innovation to greater continuity in the efforts deployed to develop high end capabilities and strategic enablers; from stronger security of supply to greater freedom of action, this strategy will serve as a catalyst of what it takes to restore and preserve peace in the European continent.
The adaptation of the Union’s defence industry to the current security and market trends has to be addressed as a matter of priority. The European Commission and the High Representative / Head of the Agency are ready to support Member States in this endeavour.
EU Defence readiness can be defined as a steady state of preparedness of the Union and its Member States to protect the security of its citizens, the integrity of its territory and critical assets or infrastructures, and its core democratic values and processes. This includes an ability to provide military assistance to its partners, such as Ukraine.
In line with the Strategic Compass, it encompasses the ability to act more quickly and decisively when facing crises, secure our citizens against rapidly evolving threats, invest in the needed capabilities and technologies and partner with others to achieve common goals. This Strategy also responds to proposals made by citizens in the Conference on the Future of Europe.
From emergency responses to readiness: time for a paradigm shift
It is time to move from emergency responses to structural EU defence readiness across all time horizons. The EU needs to secure the availability to its Member States and partners of consumables in the requisite volumes, including during crisis times, while ensuring the timely development and delivery of next generation high end critical capabilities in the coming years. This also takes into account the Ukrainian defence needs. Additionally, secure access to contested domains such as cyber, space, maritime and air, cannot be protected effectively by a single Member State. Therefore, the EU needs to develop its capacity to ensure its access to these areas collectively, through the necessary investment in European level solutions.
What are hybrid threats?
According to the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG-DEFIS), hybrid threats refer to when, state or non-state, actors seek to exploit the vulnerabilities of the EU to their own advantage by using in a coordinated way a mixture of measures (i.e. diplomatic, military, economic, technological) while remaining below the threshold of formal warfare.
Examples are the hindering of democratic decision-making processes by massive disinformation campaigns, using social media to control the political narrative or to radicalise, recruit and direct proxy actors.
What is the Commission doing to respond to hybrid threats? Member States are predominantly responsible to respond to hybrid threats by enhancing their resilience, and detecting, preventing and responding to hybrid threats. The Commission plays an important role in providing coordinated responses at EU level in cases where many EU Member States face common threats, which can also target cross-border networks or infrastructures.
The main pillars of the EU response are:
- enhancing situational awareness, boosting resilience in all critical sectors,
- providing an adequate response and recovery in case of crisis,
- cooperating with like-minded countries and organisations, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
The European Commission coordinates and develops policy initiatives on several key issues within its competences i.e. protection of critical infrastructure, cybersecurity measures, tackling (online) disinformation, securing free and fair elections, etc.
Since 2016, the Commission together with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy has set up a broad array of measures to counter hybrid threats in a substantial number of policy areas through the 2016 Joint Framework on countering hybrid threats – a European Union response and the 2018 Joint Communication on Increasing Resilience and Bolstering Capabilities to Address Hybrid Threats.
In addition, the 2020 EU Security Union Strategy announced a new approach based on mainstreaming hybrid threats considerations into all policy initiatives.
