In September, the Club of Three held a dinner at the residence of the French Ambassador to Germany, H.E François Delattre, followed by a session on defence at the Adlon Kempinski. This event was organised in partnership with the Hertie Stiftung.
The discussion at the French residence, during which German Defence State Secretary Sebastian Hartmann gave a keynote address, focused on the prospects for strengthening Europe’s defence and security at a critical time for Europe, after August’s Anchorage and Washington summits and the Trump Administration’s push for a peace deal, and a new impetus between the “Three” on defence cooperation (Kensington Treaty, Lancaster House 2.0 and Toulon’s Franco-German Defence and Security Council).
It was chaired by Peter Watkins with inputs from General (Ret.) Jean-Marc Vigilant, James Heappey and a number of other senior participants from France, Germany and the UK in the fields of politics, diplomacy, business and academia.
The sessions at the Adlon Kempinski (Wintergarden Room) on Friday 26 September focused on the underlying societal and political issues in the current debate on defence in Europe, as well as ongoing efforts to improve the resilience and preparedness of our respective countries.
The main speakers were:
**Session I: Tobias Cremer MEP, Nathalie Vogel and Nick Coleman
Panel discussion chaired by John Kampfner
**Session II: Elisabeth Braw, Evie Aspinall and Sarah Kirchberger
Panel discussion chaired by Rebecca Harding
Participants included: French Ambassador Francois Delattre; UK Ambassador Andrew J. Mitchell; Hans Christoph Atzpodien (Federation of German Security and Defence Industries); Pierre-Henri Dumont (Les Républicains, France); Anne Ruth Herkes (Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft); Rowan Barnett (Google.org); Eric Chevreul (French Embassy Berlin); Lt. Gen. (Ret) Heinrich Brauß (DGAP); Anna Lena Hohmann (PwC); Wolfgang Ischinger (Munich Security Conference Foundation); Sarah Raine (IISS); Norbert Röttgen (Bundestag); Sascha Spoun (Lüneburg University); Rebecca Harding (Centre for Economic Security); Nathalie Vogel (Institute of World Politics); Nicolas Piau (Tilt Capital); Evie Aspinall (British Foreign Policy Group); Elisabeth Braw (Atlantic Council); and Hanna Notte (James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies).
