The Club of Three’s 2025 Plenary, organised in partnership with the Adenauer Stiftung, focused once more on European defence and security. It built on the successful 2024 Plenary in Berlin as well as a series of subsequent meetings held in London and Berlin.
Some 50 senior figures from across all sectors in France, Germany, the UK and other European countries gathered in Paris in November to review the military, diplomatic and geopolitical situation in Ukraine. They also discussed the latest initiatives aiming both to support Ukraine and to strengthen Europe’s own defences – as well as, in the long run, to deter Russia.
This had been a roller-coaster year for U.S-Ukraine relations, with intense European diplomatic activity to keep Ukraine in the fight. On the battlefield, the country was under serious pressure in areas like Pokrovsk, which some feared could pave the way for Russian advances towards Slovyansk, Pavlograd, and even Dnipro. And across Europe, grey-zone, sub-threshold attacks had multiplied significantly.
The first part of the Plenary meeting was hosted by the British Ambassador to France at his residence in Paris. It was followed by a dinner discussion at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée on the theme “Where are we Three / The state of Europe and European defence and security”, during which Anne-Marie Descôtes, Secrétaire générale of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, delivered the keynote address.
Three further sessions on issues ranging from defence procurement and industrial readiness to the role of technology and finance were held at the hôtel particulier Alfred Sommier the following day.
Participants included: British Ambassador Sir Thomas Drew; Philippe Errera (Safran); Anne Ruth Herkes (Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft); Anne-Charlotte Fredenucci (Ametra Group); General (Ret.) Sir Christopher Deverell; Charles Fries (European External Action Service); Ulrike Franke (European Council on Foreign Relations); General (Ret.) Christophe Gomart MEP; Ben Hall (Financial Times); Ruth Harris (RAND Europe); Baudouin Heuninckx (European Defence Agency); Sylvie Matelly (Institut Jacques Delors); Natalia Pouzyreff (Assemblée Nationale); Norbert Röttgen (Bundestag); Ingrid Southworth (UK delegation NATO); Prof. May-Britt U. Stumbaum (The SPEAR Institute); Vincent Thomassier (MBDA); Huw Walters (UK Ministry of Defence); Chloé Boniface (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs); Daniel Hallett (Frankenburg Technologies); Grégoire Charbit (ODDO BHF SE)
