Lords to question former NATO official and experts on key outcomes of NATO summit
Monday 4 July 2022
Following the recent North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit, the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee will hold two evidence sessions this week to discuss the summit outcomes and other issues as part of its continuing inquiry: Defence concepts and capabilities: from aspiration to reality.
On Wednesday 6 July the Committee will hear from a former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General, Professor Jamie Shea in his first appearance before a parliamentary Select committee since the NATO summit concluded. The second session will focus on UK-France and UK-Germany bilateral defence relations, with experts from Paris-based Institut Montaigne and King’s College London.
The sessions will start at 10.30am and will be available to watch live or on demand on Parliament TV or attend in person in Committee Room 4, Palace of Westminster.
Giving evidence will be:
10.30am
- Professor Jamie Shea, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges (2010 – 2018); and
- Professor Mark Webber, Professor of International Politics, University of Birmingham.
11.30am:
- Georgina Wright, Senior Fellow and Director, Europe Program, Institut Montaigne; and
- Professor Christoph Meyer, Professor of European & International Politics, King's College London.
Questions will include:
- Last week leaders of NATO Member States met in Madrid to discuss the most pressing security and defence issues facing the Alliance. What would you identify as the key outcomes of the summit? Were there any topics that should have been addressed but were not?
- One of the outcomes of last week’s NATO Summit was the publication of NATO’s new Strategic Concept. To what extent does it respond to the needs and expectations of the United Kingdom? To what extent does it align with the Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper?
- What is your assessment of the overall position of the UK within NATO? What is the scale of our influence? How effective is the UK in promoting its agenda within the organisation?
- What defence challenges does NATO face, how would you rank them, and how would you prioritise such NATO commitments vis-à-vis other threats the UK may face? To which of these challenges can the UK make a vital contribution, and are there any others where we should accept a lesser role?
- What is your assessment of the UK’s defence and security relationships with France, Germany, and any other European states you may wish to comment on? What are their most robust features? Where do you see room for improvement?
