SEMINAR POOLING & SHARING

The Benelux Air Defence Pact A Blueprint for Visegrad?

Benelux Airspace: Lessons from its Creation

Prague, 30/06/2015

Hello, this is Tim Vandenput

Flight mechanics engineer Member of the Belgian Parliament Commissioner for Defence and Foreign Affairs

And my name is Laurens Bynens

Researcher at Liberaal Kenniscentrum Advisor for Defence and Development at Open Vld Policy Centre

2 centuries ago?

Waterloo

S

The Benelux Air Defence Pact

From 2017 onwards, Belgian and Dutch fighter jets will protect the Benelux air space

The agreement on the joint air policing

The agreement on the joint air policing

S followed a letter of intent signed in October 2013

S signed by the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg on March 4, 2015

Quick Reaction Alert

Quick Reaction Alert

S NATO Procedure

S Combined Air Operations Centre

Renegade

Renegade

“… terrorism is considered to be the most serious threat to air transport. Many agree that this threat is real, persistent, evolving, sophisticated and hardly predictable. Terrorists use asymmetric methods which are difficult to reveal and defend against them” – Schóber e.a. Possibilities of countering the air threat and prevention against it. Management and Socio-Humanities, 2012.

S Belgium has been a pioneer for multiple years in this field

S 2004 – invitation to neighbours

S 2005 – bilateral with France

S Germany? UK?

Renegade

Renegade

S National authorities decide

S Depends on national laws

S In Benelux: Dutch/Belgian pilots can receive orders from Be-Ne-Lux

S Dilemma that each country must face:

Will we ultimately shoot down a civilian airplane to save civilians on the ground?

Ethical discussion on Renegade

S

The Belgian presence in Malbork

The Baltic Enhanced Air Policing Mission

Belgian F-16 and Polish MiG-29 side by side

Baltic Enhanced Air Policing Mission

S 4 F16’s in the NATO operation

S number of incursions: +50%

S civilian airliner approaches: 30

Vision on a European army

Vision on a European army

S Cfr. Czech Minister of Defence at ALDE: do we act on intergovernmental or supranational principles?

S Benelux as inspiration for European integration

Collaboration

S 200 years ago for war

S Now for peace with ‘sharing’ of sovereignty