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With the launch of the €150 billion defence loan instrument SAFE, plus the commitment by all NATO members to invest invest 5% of their GDP in defence and security-related investment, the EU is gearing itself up for a fight should there be an attack on its territories.

But who are we fighting and how are we fighting?

According the report by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the EU urgently needs to shift from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience, taking the “whole-of-society” approach.

European Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, made it clear that defence and security is tied with preparedness. Being prepared for the eventuality where we may run out of medicine, critical raw material, necessary skill sets and knowledge.

European Commissioner for Defense, Andrius Kubilius, is urging member states to invest even more in military and space, and went as far as saying that Europe should not fully depend on American weapons.
But there are so many obstacles facing the EU. The most obvious is that defence is not an EU competence, when leadership is very much needed in times of war. Investments in defence, security and preparedness may also mean taking away the much-needed investments in the twin goals of competitiveness and decarbonisation.

Another aspect is Europe's state of digital expertise is behind the US and China in an age where war is being fought in the cyberspace, and most of Europe's payment facilities, cloud storage, and IT infrastructures are American. With Trump at the helm, such a strong reliance on the US seems increasingly imprudent. Europe is also at a point where polarisation reigns, and governments are struggling to sustain coalitions and make long-lasting decisions.

In this session of #BeersPoliticsEU, we'd like to cover as much as possible this state of emergency the EU is finding itself in:

  • What does defence and security mean in this day and age? What is the scope of a war?
  • Who are we fighting and where are we fighting?
  • What does preparedness mean? What should citizens expect from their governments in ensuring all the necessary plans are already put in place?
  • What are the obstacles facing the EU's plans and what can we do about them?

This session is sponsored by William Baillehache.

With us in the panel are:

  • Karen Jensen, Policy & Advocacy Officer, European Movement International
  • Evgenia Karatari , Deputy Head of Division EU Situation Room, European External Action Service
  • Peter Lonergan, Senior Policy Officer, European Emergency Number Association
  • Agnieszka Łukaszczyk, Founder, hialtitude.space
  • Chris Powers, Defense Editor, Euractiv

Moderator: Harold Tor-Daenens, Senior EU Advocacy Expert, Hyperion Tree Digital

  • Location: Commons Hub Brussels, Rue de la Madeleine 51, 1000 Brussels
  • Date: Tuesday, 14 October 2025
  • Doors open: 18:45
  • Time: 19:15-20:15, followed by Q&A plus informal chitchat

Entrance fee: FREE, but every participant is asked to purchase a drink upon entrance to support the event.

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About #BeersPoliticsEU
Harold Tor-Daenens is the organiser of #BeersPoliticsEU - a renowned monthly meetup of EU professionals and ordinary citizens to talk about EU policies and politics. It is a voluntary informal setting that allows both EU experts in the Brussels Bubble and citizens to meet and exchange without any institutional sectoral or political baggage.

The format of #BeersPoliticsEU is simple: a speaker or a panel of speakers speak for an hour at most. No powerpoint is allowed. Anyone in the room can interrupt with a question at any point of time. If necessary, the session can be extended by at most 30 minutes of QnA.

Please tag us using #BeersPoliticsEU on all social media platforms.

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