Integration of the European Capability Process in Member States’ Administration : The Estonian Case

This paper explores the degree to which, and how, Estonia has used the Capability Development Plan (CDP), the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and the European Defence Fund (EDF) in its national defence planning and acquisition policies and practices. Consistent with its view of the respective roles of NATO and the EU in defence, Estonia largely disregards the outputs of the CDP and CARD in its defence planning, focusing instead on national and NATO-derived requirements. Estonia is, however, a strong advocate for the role that EU support and funding can play in building Europe’s defence capabilities. It is a willing participant in PESCO and strongly encourages its defence industry to participate in EDF projects, where Estonian entities have achieved relatively high levels of success in fields such as cyber, robotics, sensors, and surveillance technologies.