The Strategic Compass is the EU's action plan for strengthening EU security and defence policy until 2030.

The event opened with a presentation by ANUCES Director Anne McNaughton, who introduced the background and purpose of the Strategic Compass. This was followed by remarks by the Ambassadors of the Delegations of the EU, France and the Czech Republic. The Ambassador of the EU Delegation, Gabriele Visentin, is the former EU Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific and therefore focused on the specificities and relevance of the Strategic Compass towards the region. The Ambassador of France, Jean-Pierre Thébault, spoke about the process of adopting the Compass and its relevance for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (the adoption of the Compass was one of the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU). Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Tomáš Dub, focused in particular on the process and the interim implementation of the document. This was followed by a debate between the individual panellists and questions from ANUCES academics as well as the audience, which consisted of students, the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Australian civil service and the Department of Foreign Affairs, and guests of each participating Embassy.

We would like to thank the Embassy of France and the EU Delegation in Canberra, as well as ANUCES for their exemplary cooperation in organising the event!