Professor, @VUBrussel | Head, Defence, Investment and Innovation, @CSDS_Brussels | Non-Resident Senior Fellow @rielcano | #Defence #EDTIB #Europe
Joined March 2013
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Jan 14
Please, dear followers. Do not direct message me on X, as I never read messages here. If it is urgent, do send me an email. Thanks.
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Jun 13
Félicitations pour le dixième anniversaire !
📘 𝐋𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐃𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.
L’année 2025 a été marquée par de grands jalons pour la #DGRIS :
🔹 La célébration de ses 10 ans ;
🔹 La prise de fonctions de @guillaumeoll comme directeur général des relations internationales et de la stratégie ;
🔹 L’adoption de la stratégie française de défense pour l’Arctique à l’horizon 2030.
Le rapport annuel retrace les principales actions, réalisations et avancées qui ont marqué cette année, en matière de coopérations internationales, de partenariats bilatéraux, de stratégie de défense et de soutien à la recherche.
🔗 𝗔̀ 𝗹𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 : urlr.me/PUQBTA
@Armees_Gouv #rapportannuel #DGRIS10ans
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
Jun 12
Good news for Malta. 🇲🇹
The Council has closed the excessive deficit procedure against Malta. The country has corrected its public finances and is no longer under EU budgetary oversight.
Not sure what that means? We explain it here ➡️link.europa.eu/fdTvWD
ALT Title slide with the heading “Excessive deficit procedure explained”, featuring abstract graphs and coins suggesting public finance, and the Council of the European Union logo in the bottom right corner.
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Jun 12
Today, the Council activated the national escape clause for Spain.
With this decision, 18 🇪🇺 member states now benefit from greater flexibility under the EU fiscal rules to support higher defence spending.
Wondering how it works in practice? ➡️ link.europa.eu/nhVQ3p
ALT A graphic with the heading “National escape clause explained” above an illustration of a large satellite dish in front of a circular radar-style grid.
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Jun 12
This piece on the European Defence Agency includes comments by me. Do give it a read.
Jun 12
For two decades, the @EUDefenceAgency was Europe’s underused defense coordinator. Now, as the EU embarks on its biggest rearmament drive in decades, the capitals are betting on the EDA to help close capability gaps, coordinate procurement and boost innovation.
But can it finally receive the political backing it needs?
Read the full story on our website: buff.ly/50D42KS
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Jun 11
Who will win out in Europe’s defence surge? Defence ministers and the armed forces or finance ministers and heads of government putting their heads in the sand? Surely if leaders spend all their time saying Europe is in peril they should back this up with money? Crazy times!
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Jun 11
A technical note for those that care: the EEAS is technically an EU body, and not an EU Institution. There is a difference.
Explained here:
european-union.europa.eu/ins…
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Jun 11
This afternoon, I spent time with uniformed officers from European & international militaries. Impressed by the common views & agreement that our issue in Europe is not really capabilities or industry; it's political leadership (or lack thereof). Still, I remain an optimist!
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Jun 10
Historia!
Un moment històric per a la Basílica de la Sagrada Família. Així hem viscut la missa solemne presidida pel Papa Lleó XIV i la posterior benedicció i inauguració de la torre de Jesucrist.
Gràcies a totes les persones que ens heu acompanyat! 🙌
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
I would also like to express our gratitude for the gracious hospitality of the French government and people during our visit to Normandy to commemorate D-Day and all the sacrifices our forebears made for our security and freedom. Our precious historical sites—and most of all our honored dead—are honored and well-kept by our French allies. 2/2
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
It was great to have a very productive discussion with @rufoalice during my visit to France. Like her, I greatly value our candid, strategic, and respectful dialogue. France has long encouraged Europe to do more for its defense, and we are now working in that direction within the context of NATO 3.0. 1/
Jun 6
Ravie d'avoir pu m'entretenir à Deauville avec Elbridge Colby, sous-secrétaire américain à la guerre, à l'occasion des commémorations du Débarquement en Normandie.
J’ai rappelé l’importance de soutenir l’Ukraine dans la phase qui s’ouvre et alors que le président Zelensky a formulé des propositions courageuses. Nous avons abordé la situation au Proche-Orient et l’importance de la réouverture du détroit d’Ormuz dans le respect du droit international.
Nous avons enfin échangé sur la préparation du sommet de l’OTAN à venir. Nous sommes convenus de la nécessité que l’Europe prenne davantage ses responsabilités pour sa propre défense.
Dans un contexte international particulièrement tendu, maintenir un dialogue étroit avec nos alliés américains est essentiel.
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Jun 10
Goodness. Europe is great!
La Sagrada Família ja brilla amb la torre de Jesús. Un espectacle de llums, cant coral, drons i pirotècnia ha posat punt final a la inauguració de la torre central, que converteix la basílica en l'església més alta del món. El papa Lleó XIV l'ha beneït 3cat.cat/3catinfo/aixi-ha-es…
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
Jun 10
My colleagues model the growing spread and depth of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.
economist.com/interactive/eu…
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Jun 10
A pretty unambiguous statement.
In unserer Luftfahrtstrategie geht es um Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Innovation einer Zukunftsbranche. Wir denken Luftverkehr, Industrie und militärische Luftfahrt zusammen. Damit Deutschland führende Luftfahrtnation bleibt.
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
📌 DEAL
Today, the @EUCouncil and @Europarl_EN reached a provisional agreement to boost the EU's defence industry and readiness. 🛡️
The new set of laws, constituting the Omnibus V package, aim to:
👉 simplify security and defence procurement
👉 facilitate defence investments
👉 support the defence industry
👉 remove administrative delays
Learn more 👉 link.berry.social/deal/defen…
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
Jun 10
Watch Airbus Defence CEO eat his words on a German alternative to the failed 🇩🇪- 🇫🇷 FCAS fighter jet project.
CEO Michael Schöllhorn faced the fury of the chancellory for suggesting a Germany First alternative. At the opening of the Berlin air Show he felt misunderstood:
"To be clear, and I direct my words to the journalists here, we do not favor Germany going it alone. We think European. But we want German industry to have a central role."
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Jun 10
Some comments from me in Dutch for @tijd on the failed #FCAS project, French - German defence industrial differences, failed leadership and European cooperation.
Read
tijd.be/politiek-economie/eu…
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
Tomorrow, 10th June, will be a historic day for the Basilica of the Sagrada Família, and you can follow it live on our social media channels, from 745 p.m. (Instagram, Youtube and TikTok)📲 Don’t miss the solemn mass on the centenary of Gaudí’s death, officiated by Pope Leo XIV, and the blessing and inauguration of the tower of Jesus Christ, with a performance created especially for the occasion, which will illuminate the tower of Jesus Christ and Barcelona’s sky in a visual homage to Gaudí’s creativity and vision.
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Jun 9
Or put another, more Shakespearean way…
“A plague o’ both houses!”
Belgium's PM Bart De Wever has slammed France and Germany for failing to agree on a joint program to build a new fighter jet.
politico.eu/article/pure-stu…
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Jun 9
Options post-FCAS for Germany
1) Buy American (F35)
2) Join other project (GCAP)
3) Lead own project (Airbus)
4) Shadow project
Jun 9
No new fighter jets through FCAS – Germany and France have buried their joint effort to develop Europe's next generation fighter aircraft. So, what now? Germany's defense minister said several possible alternatives are on the table, including a German initiative involving Airbus.
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Daniel Fiott retweeted
Germany would face exactly the same problems with GCAP as it did with the NGF portion of FCAS: accepting a status as financial contributor and supplier of secondary systems but no design lead, ownership of crucial intellectual property, or retention of key technological know-how.
Jun 8
An open secret for many months. This French-centric plan made sense when Germany had no strategic security culture, but it did not survive contact with the Zeitenwende and Chancellor Merz. Will the Germans now seek to increase their interest in GCAP?
theguardian.com/world/2026/j…
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