On Monday 5 December, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) French Air Force General Stéphane Abrial, explained his views on NATO Smart Defence to the European Parliament Security and Defence Subcommittee.

Along with the European Defence Agency (EDA) Chief Executive, Ms. Claude- France Arnould who presented the EU “pooling and sharing” initiative, he stressed the close cooperation that exists between both organisations for the implementation of the two initiatives.

“At the institutional level, we are building on a strong foundation of good will, so the best protection against duplication, or even competition, is mutual transparency, regular communication and exchanges of thoughts and ideas” General Abrial stated.

They exchanged views on how Allied Command Transformation and EDA are managing together to do important work, staff to staff, to be sure that, sticking to the agreed framework, the two initiatives are complementing each other and that duplications are avoided. They gave examples like the Medical or Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) field or the training of helicopter pilots deployed to Afghanistan under the NATO umbrella.

To conclude General Abrial stressed that “all parties can gain from positive, open and co-operative relationships, which is clearly a lesson that is also applicable well beyond the current wave of projects.”