Sea Control - Sea Control 463 - EU Maritime Security with Giovanni Cremonini

Episode Date: September 17, 2023

“Joint communication on the update of the EU Maritime Security Strategy and its Action Plan: An enhanced EU Maritime Security Strategy for evolving maritime threats” by EU Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, March 10, 2023

Hello and welcome to the Sea Control Podcast. I'm Nathan Miller. Today, Alexia Boulaghi hosts Giovanni Cromonini of the European Union External Action Service. They discussed the latest update to the EU maritime security strategy. Brendan Costello edited and produced this episode. We currently have a call out for articles for our new initiative, Notes to the New CNO. What do you want to tell the new Chief of Naval Operations in 500 words or less? If you'd like to participate, submissions are due September 18. Finally, I want to take the opportunity to recommend our partners in the SimSec podcast network, The Bilge Pumps. You can find Alex, Jamie, Drack, and a pile of iron brew bottles wherever you download your podcasts. And with that, Kimber's Men.

You're listening to Sea Control, hosted by the Center for International Maritime Security. Aloha shipmates and welcome back aboard Sea Control. Today I'm joined by Giovanni Cremonini, the head of EU Maritime Security and we are going to be discussing EU Maritime Security, its strategy, challenges and perspectives. Sir Cremonini, welcome. Could you please first introduce yourself to our audience and tell us more about your background, please? Yes. Yes, my name is Elias. I am a European Union official. So that's my job. And I've been doing this job for, I was thinking about it, 29 years. So it's quite a long time. I've been with the European Union institutions. I started in the European Commission, and then I've been with the European External Action Service since the very creation of this service in 2011. So as an EU official, I always work in the field of external relations So I've been in a way a diplomat for the European Union

And I've also been posted to diplomatic missions of the European Commission in other countries In particular, I have done a stint in Russia for five years and China for four years And then I also dealt with the coordination of the European neighborhood policy with lessons learned from EU common security and defense policy missions and operations. I worked on the Indo-Pacific. I worked as a geographical desk on Armenia. And now, since about two years,

I am the head of sector for maritime security in the security and defense policy director of the European External Action Service. Thanks a lot, Sir Clumanini, for these explanations. so it will allow us to dive more into the questions and more precisely but first i would like to remind that all opinions are our own and not reflective of any institution with which we might otherwise be associated to dig more into that could you please talk to us about your position and missions within the eeas yes i mean as i think i probably heard me already explain

I'm the head of maritime security sector that's my position and so what do I do as a head of maritime security sector I have a small team and we cover really the policy the policy of the European Union on maritime security we have just in fact prepared a joint communication

on the European Union maritime security strategy as you can imagine we prepare briefings and speeches on where we explain the policy on maritime security there's also a more operational side because i help prepare joint press releases for joint naval exercises so we do joint naval exercises with partners using our eu naval operations so that is also part of what i do so the joint naval exercises so they in general what is what all that is related to the policy to recover quite a lot actually going from a classical maritime security operations to uh protection of uh also of uh we try to do we can to protect undersea physical infrastructure cables

pipelines it's uh it's a very broad uh brief i would like that i mean it's a in fact there i'm not the only person dealing with maritime security in the in my service the european Action Service. There are also colleagues who follow more operationally our missions and operations, in particular our naval operations Atalanta and our naval operation Irini, one in the Indian Ocean and the other in the Mediterranean Sea. And I also have colleagues in the European Commission, which is also part of the European Institution. The European Commission has a Director General called DG MARE, DG Maritime Affairs, where they deal also with maritime security from the point of view of more linked to fisheries and then there's aspect related

to transport. I mean, as I'm sure the listeners know, maritime security is a very big field with many aspects, but I work very closely, in fact, with the European Commission and together we cover the overall policy of maritime security for the European Union. Thanks a lot for these broad explanations. it will allow us more to understand your missions and the EU strategy. So on March 10th, 2023, the European Commission and the High Representative adopted, as you said, a joint communication on an enhanced EU maritime security strategy,

paired, as you mentioned, with an action plan that was updated. Could you please explain us the background behind this initiative and why this update happened? The member states of the European Union and the European Commission and the European External Action Service agreed that we needed to take into account new developments, new threats and challenges after the adoption of the first EU maritime security strategy in 2014. There are new challenges, in particular, concerning cyber threats and hybrid threats. There also have been geopolitical developments, in particular in the Indo-Pacific. So the world has changed, the threats have evolved, and we felt that we needed to reflect this in an update of the European Union Maritime Security Strategy. Now, the main principles have not changed. Of course, we still aim to ensure the security of the European Union, of its citizens, the security of the sea lines of communication, and to address all threats. But, of course, we have to take into account the changed circumstances. Certain threats are more acute, and also the way that we address them has to be adapted to the changing threats.

So, the joint communication on the update of the maritime security strategy also lists some specific strategic objectives and actions. And the strategic objectives that have been identified are six. The first is to step up activities at sea. And here we have our naval operations. We have, in general, the presence at sea, also with the coordinated maritime presences of the European Union. We have also joint operations that are conducted by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex. There are many activities, so we want to step these up. Second, we want to cooperate even more with partners, our partners across the world,

to promote the rule of law at sea, what we call the rules-based order at sea, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. And here we would like to continue with our joint naval exercises, for instance, and with our dialogues and other activities that we sponsor. By the way, this I didn't mention, but one of the activities under my responsibility are the dialogues on maritime security that we have with partners such as India, for instance, regular EU-India dialogue on maritime security. and also other activities, workshops, for instance, in the framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum on Maritime Security, where the European Union is a member. The third strategic objective is that we want, as European Union, we want to lead on maritime domain awareness. This is a very important field for us, and we see that here the European Union can make a difference.

There's a niche where we can provide value added, and we act both within the European Union with the exchange of information between member states on maritime security. Here we have a European Union initiative called the Common Information Sharing Environment, CISC, therefore the interconnection of the maritime information systems of the various EU member states that are linked together under this system. But also beyond the borders of the European Union, we want to help our partners be more aware, be better informed of what is going on really at sea in their maritime space, which is the precondition for them to assert their sovereignty over their waters and to protect their waters. And I would like to mention in this context an important EU project, the Critical Maritime Routes in the Indo-Pacific Project, or CRIMARIO, that concerns the whole of the Indo-Pacific from the eastern coast of Africa through India, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, all the way to the Pacific Islands. So maritime domain awareness. Fourth strategic objective is addressing the evolving threats and challenges. I mentioned cybersecurity, protecting critical infrastructure. Then the fifth strategic objective is enhancing capabilities. We want the European Union and European Union member states to have the capabilities they need to face the threats, and here capabilities are ships, are systems, are unmanned vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, for instance, we're thinking of drone swarms and measures to counter drone swarm attacks. this is the future, an unmanned system

and the European Union has very advanced technologies, we want to remain at the forefront of technology to be well equipped to face threats to maritime security and finally the sixth objective is about educating and training on maritime security

That's great because we also talked about a lot about CRIMAUYO and this whole Indo-Pacific commitment previously, so that rings bells, I think, for the listeners. So, according to you, you already touched a lot about it,

but the main takeaway is, do you think that there are some major shifts in the strategy as compared to the not-updated one, or are we more in the continuity of the previous strategy that has been updated? No, I think we're in continuity.

This is an update. The fundamental interests and the main parameters, I would say, have not really changed, but it's being better targeted and coming up with actions to respond better in a more focused way, to add also some specific actions. The 2014 strategy was perhaps more general. Now we're trying to be a bit more specific.

So there are some new tools that we're developing, including, for instance, if you compare the two, For instance, you will find that now there's also a mention of the Indo-Pacific. For instance, in 2014, that was not yet the case. Now the European Union has its own Indo-Pacific strategy. And there's increased recognition of the importance of cyber threats, for instance, compared to 2014 and hybrid. We have had, unfortunately, Russia's aggression against Ukraine since. And so the world has changed also in this regard.

this is reflected in the new joint communication and we were trying to keep pace with the times essentially and respond adequately to the evolving threats to maritime security having a stable framework as to what we want the main objectives are the same respond to threats to preserve security the main principles of the european union have not changed we still promote the rule of law We still believe in multilateralism and the primacy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. These principles have not changed. We just apply them in a changing world. So now moving out to the Gulf of Guinea.

So I wanted to talk about that. So it has been an emblematic application of the doctrine of coordinated maritime presence. Can you talk about it? What has been learned since? how can it help us adapt and implement this scheme if other areas in other areas of interest yes the coordinated maritime presences concept is an innovative concept that was launched in 2021 with the gulf of guinea as you said correctly and this is something that was spearheaded by the european union it's a new idea it is not

a military operation with an EU command structure. It is a form of coordination between different EU member states. So the coordination of ships that are present in a certain maritime area of interest, these ships remain under national command, so there's no European Union chain of command, but the countries participating in the coordinated maritime presences inform a maritime air of interest coordination cell in Brussels of the presence of their ships,

and they exchange information about what the ships see, the data that they collect in a maritime air of interest so that this data is shared with other EU member states and also increasingly with the coastal states. In the Gulf of Guinea, we have the Yaoundé architecture for maritime security. We have maritime information centers. So we work with the countries in the region.

We want to work more and more with the countries in the region to empower them to control their own coasts. So this is a very important element. In fact, we want to build capacity. The presence of the ships of the EU member states is also linked to capacity building. It's used for capacity building activities complemented by specific EU capacity building projects. For instance, we have the Go Guinea project, the Gulf of Guinea information network project that is about the sharing of maritime information between the coastal states. And we have also a tool similar to the tool called IARIS, similar to the tool that the Climario project provides in the Indo-Pacific. Climario provides another tool called IORIS.

It's a similar concept of an information platform for sharing maritime information that the European Union provides to the partners in the region of the Gulf of Guinea or in the region of the Indo-Pacific. So this is, in conclusion, an innovative concept for the coordination of assets of EU member states and also the coordination of the activities of these assets with the EU capacity building programs that are managed by the European Commission. And all this works under the so-called EU integrated approach, where we want to integrate all the tools at our disposal for the best and the greatest possible effect. Okay, very clear explanation. Thanks a lot for that. So the EU advances itself as a normative sector who supports the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and a rules-based order at sea. so in a context where we have also this increased geopolitical competition this position is often challenged and compared in fact to this very increased militarization at sea

so what do you think about EU position regarding to that what is your assessment of the situation? Well my assessment is that unfortunately the international law is challenged We see it in several cases in the world We see it most blatantly now with the war now taking place in Ukraine The territorial integrity of the country is being blatantly violated So it's a direct challenge of international law We see also that in the South China Sea

There are challenges to international law and here the European Union for the solving of disputes in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. So it's very important for us that there should be a primacy of international law and international UN conventions. We certainly do not want a militarization. We use all our tools, in fact, to promote peace, peaceful resolution of disputes,

Also, to make sure that there is control of the maritime space by the countries that have the legitimate sovereignty over these maritime spaces, there is also the rationale of our maritime domain awareness cooperation to ensure that the countries are aware of their maritime space and can protect it against all threats. It's, of course, very important for the European Union that the sea lines of communication are safe and secure. The European Union has also trade interests, and we want the sea lines of communication to remain open. We want to ensure free and more navigation. So this is really at the core of the interests of the European Union. We want a multilateral order, also at sea, based on rules, and the sea lines of communication to be open. And we certainly do not want military conflict to interrupt the sea lines of communication and also to cause destruction, suffering, and upheaval in the world. So our vision is against that.

And we believe that to avoid conflict, everybody should abide by rules. and the rules are set by the UN level in particular in the case of the maritime space by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that should be really the overarching framework for all activities at sea. Okay, it's very important here to act upon these values

and follow this path that is very particular to the EU and that may also be its strength So, to continue on a more challenging question, how can you find the balance between its challenges in its nearby environment and shores, and the far-reaching seas where the attention has been in the previous years increased? Yes, I think both are important, the challenges in the immediate neighborhood of the European Union, and also the challenges further away. I mean, the world is increasingly interconnected. We say it's becoming smaller. It's a fact that it's interconnected. And certainly, the changes in the immediate neighborhood of the European Union are more immediate. I mean, I mentioned already the challenge in Ukraine. Certainly, that is really at our doorstep. We must tackle that. We must tackle maritime security challenges. There's a maritime security challenge in the Black Sea. But there are also challenges in the Mediterranean. Those are certainly of greatest concern. So we have those challenges that we pay attention to, we must pay attention to.

In addition, we have, as I mentioned, also, for instance, very concrete interest in maritime trade. As you know, most of global trade is by sea. We're talking about 90% of the world's trade by sea. This concerns the European Union. And we need supplies that can be seen. We need economic growth for the everyday life of the people in the European Union. Some say no shipping, no shopping.

It's really important that we have these trade links. And so we have to protect these trade links through maritime links. It is in the interest of the European Union. For instance, we talk about the Indian Ocean. And there are very vital sea lines of communication. Those are also in the interest of the European Union. So we must also help protect those links. And frankly, also beyond that, if there are conflicts far away from us, but in areas that are important for the world economy and also by extension for the European Union.

and areas where a conflict would have catastrophic consequences. If it was a conflict in maritime spaces in the Indo-Pacific, this would be of direct interest to the European Union. It would cause damage to everybody, including to the European Union. We want to avoid that. So we have a direct interest in peace, in security at sea, in our neighborhood, but also far away. And also the principles of international maritime law apply everywhere. So we uphold those principles in faraway places because they also apply near us.

We have a global, I would say, the European Union must be a global, sometimes we say a global security provider, which is very ambitious, but we really want to help to provide security across the globe. Because the European Union is actually quite a large actor, quite a large market, a large economic actor with significant interest. We want that to be reflected also in our action across the globe. What goes on really also very far away from us in the world has, in fact, a direct impact on the European Union, And especially in places like the Indo-Pacific, which where now most of the economic growth in the world is concentrated, we will not ignore that. That also is in our interest as well as our neighborhood. And then so moving on to the challenges you list previously and also linked to this protection of EU interests around the world. So hybrid threats and cybersecurity.

This is an objective you listed. So how does the EU intend to deal with these challenges and threats that challenge our conventional way of thinking and making policies? So do you have some explanation, concrete examples of strategy or policies developed regarding to that? Well, in the European Security Strategy, joint communication, you will find some proposals of concrete actions. We're thinking of practical exercises, exercises between EU member states to tackle hybrid and cyber threats. We're thinking of mechanisms to share experience between the EU member states on cyber threats. So that's what we have in mind. OK, so we'll check on that for sure.

so next question so how does the you intend to deal with the partners and allies across the globe regards to its maritime security so do you have some examples of corporate fruitful regional cooperation that you would like to share with us so as i mentioned strategic objective number two under the the updated new maritime security strategy is about cooperation with partners. So it's a very high priority for us. We are already cooperating. I mentioned we do joint naval exercises. By the way, we did, for instance, on the 24th of March, we did our first U.S. joint naval exercise. But I'd also like to give as an example our relationship with Japan in the Indo-Pacific and in the Indian Ocean. We have a very well-developed relationship with

cooperation at sea around the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Sea. And we have, specifically the EU Naval Force Atalanta, Operation Atalanta, has signed an administrative arrangement with Japan on the 15th of March. The commander of Operation Atalanta went to Tokyo to sign an administrative arrangement on naval cooperation, exchanging information, organizing exercises and joint activities at sea. So, we have a cooperation, not only dialogues, we have regular dialogues, specific dialogues on maritime security in the case of India, or discussions on maritime security in the framework of broader security and defense dialogues with many partners.

But we also have practical cooperation. Of course, exercise is very important for interoperability with partners. In particular, we're active in the air operation of Operation Atalanta because that's where the European Union has the ships that we can use concretely for practical exercises. We have multiple activities, exchange information, as well as practical activities at sea. We would like to continue.

we would like to expand now we have bilateral exercises, we have started also doing trilateral exercises involving not just the European Union and one partner but two European Union and two partners, so that I think is something that would be worth

developing, having also multilateral exercises and it certainly is something that we would pursue Thank you for that, so I'd like to dive into the relationship between NATO and the EU So, the coordination challenges between NATO and the EU are often put forth. What is your opinion on this relationship and which efforts can be implemented

to reach EU maritime ambitions and be more effective and work in synergy? Yes, with NATO, we have already a cooperation at the staff level, for the U.S. consultations on maritime security. NATO is present in the Eastern Mediterranean, where the European Union is also present with its Frontex operation. So we definitely have an interest in coordination. There are coordination mechanisms in place

at the operational level already. We also talk about issues of common interest. For instance, in the last staff talks with NATO, that took place last month, we discussed possible cooperation on the disposal of unexploded ammunition, unexploded ordnance at sea, which is a very practical problem,

perhaps starting with the Baltic Sea, but also in other seas. So we have also in maritime security a dedicated cooperation. You know that we have also dialogues in our security and defense issues with NATO on various topics, but there is also a specific track on maritime security.

This is actually, it's a regular conversation with NATO and regular discussions on cooperation on maritime security. So thank you for these explanations. I would like to ask you a last question that is more about your experience, so drawing from your experience in the maritime security sector at the EAS or beyond is there any particular memorable moment that you are proud of or that you would like to share with us yeah what I do I particularly like the joint naval exercises I think I like bringing this about making it happen for instance I mentioned the the first EU-US

joint naval exercise last year we had the first EU-Indonesia joint naval exercise and of course is important for the technical level, the operational level for the interoperability on the two sides, but also at the diplomatic level, it's important because we agree joint press releases, and these are messages that are negotiated and agreed at the diplomatic level, sort of. These joint press releases highlight the commonality of purpose between the two partners. that we have we join we have we share the same goals we work together for maritime security for freedom of navigation to ensure the safe free sea lines of communication and that this is a

powerful message always then accompanied with images of the ships exercising together it's i think it's a powerful and positive message to send to the world i like that yeah thank you also i think naval exercises are very ambitious and are very representative of all the effort that can be put in cooperation and interoperability work so unfortunately that's all the time that we have for today i'd like to thank my guest giovanni cremonini sir cremonini where can we find you online and what are you working on next okay well of course you have the twitter and social media handles of my service, the European Action Service. You can find it on Twitter at EEAS. I also have my own personal Twitter handle at Cremog, like Cremol and Cremolini and G like Giovanni,

where I also post about my work, about the maritime naval exercises and other activities that we do. And as for my next challenges, I'll be working still on the EU maritime security strategy, because now we have adopted a joint communication, but this has to be also discussed by the Council of the European Union, so the EU decision-making process is still ongoing. And one

of the next things that I will do is I will also participate in the European Maritime Days in Brest on the 23rd and 24th of May. There will be a panel on the EU as maritime security provider in the Gulf of Guinea and the Northwest Indian Ocean.

Thanks, good luck for that, and we'll follow your activities and the ones of the EAS for sure so thanks to our listeners thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time © transcript Emily Beynon Thank you for watching.