Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)

The meeting of the Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy (IPC-CFSP/CSDP) is due to be held on 24 and 25 February 2022. This meeting will be the first one held in traditional format since the Zagreb meeting of 3 and 4 March 2020 on the occasion of the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the last three IPC-CFSP/CSDP meetings having been held by video conferencing.

In application of the conclusions of the Conference of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the European Union held on 4 and 5 April 2011 pursuant to Article 9 of the protocol annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon on the role of the national parliaments in the European Union, the IPC-CFSP/CSDP meets every six months at the parliament of the country holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union, without prejudice to any extraordinary meetings that may be held if justified by an emergency. Each meeting is presided by the parliament of the presidency, in close cooperation with the European Parliament. This is one of the high points of the parliamentary chapter of the presidency of the Union.

The IPC-CFSP/CSDP replaced the Conference of Foreign Affairs Committee Chairpersons (COFACC) and the Conference of Defence Affairs Committee Chairpersons (CODACC) in 2012 as the principal forum for exchanging information and good practices on matters relating to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

The agenda for each meeting includes sessions devoted to the main international issues, as well as to the security and defence of the European continent. In particular, it provides for an exchange of views between the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the delegations of parliamentarians from the national parliaments and the European Parliament.

The meeting on 24 and 25 February 2022 will be an opportunity to debate the priorities of the French presidency of the European Union, in particular in the defence field in the wake of the European Summit on Defence due to be held in Toulouse in February 2022. As well as the traditional exchange of views with the High Representative and a debate on a topical subject, the Conference will include sessions on issues such as:  How to prepare for future wars? In the face of the major international challenges, how can the European Union ensure its strategic autonomy?