EUSI Policy Dialogues are the flagship activity of the Initiative. They are held twice a year in cooperation with the member state holding the rotating EU Council Presidency. Their purpose is to ensure that independent research insights are directly linked to the concrete policy agenda of the Presidency Troika and to ongoing developments within EU institutions, while also incorporating the perspectives and priorities of the member states, whose positions are crucial for the development and effectiveness of EU foreign and security policy.
The EUSI Policy Dialogues are structured around three closely connected dimensions that provide the overarching framework for the selection of specific discussion topics. The EUSI Policy Dialogues are built around three closely connected dimensions. The strategic dimension addresses how Europe should adapt its strategic posture, decision-making capacity, and military capabilities to respond effectively to the evolving geopolitical and security landscape. The industrial dimension focuses on the role of technology and innovation in enhancing European defence capabilities. The democratic dimension examines issues of legitimacy and governance, as well as the need for transparent public justification of new EU-level instruments and increased defence spending.
Participants include senior representatives from EU institutions and national governments, alongside academic and think tank experts and industry actors. By taking place in parallel with formal EU meetings, the dialogues offer an informal but structured space to test ideas, compare national perspectives, and encourage more coordinated European approaches. To support continuity and trust-based exchange, the Initiative has established an EUSI expert pool, bringing together a core group of experts who are invited to participate in the Policy Dialogues on a recurring basis. This sustained engagement helps build mutual trust, facilitates more candid and direct exchanges, and enables deeper, cumulative discussions across successive meetings.
The EUSI policy dialogues are organized in a privileged partnership with Łukasiewicz ITECH, who are also the main sponsor of the event series.
The first EUSI Policy Dialogue took place in Warsaw on 2–3 April 2025 and served as the Initiative’s inaugural meeting. Organised alongside the Polish Presidency calendar, the event was opened by Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. Commissioner Andrius Kubilius delivered the keynote address, outlining EU-level thinking on Europe’s capability needs and presenting initial ideas that would feed into the Commission’s White Paper on European Defense.
The Warsaw forum highlighted the importance of connecting EU initiatives with national capability planning and underlined the need for credible financing mechanisms. It also demonstrated the value of integrating technological expertise into strategic debates. This inaugural meeting established EUSI as a recurring platform embedded in the EU policy calendar.
The second Policy Dialogue took place in Copenhagen on 8 December 2025 in partnership with the Royal Danish Defence College. It focused on drone production and regulation, hybrid threats, and cyber resilience, with discussions covering security priorities within the Polish–Danish–Cypriot Trio as well as Europe’s drone, space, hybrid, and cyber challenges. It marked an important step in broadening the Initiative’s geographic and institutional reach.
Looking ahead, the third EUSI Policy Dialogue will take place in Nicosia. The event is organised in partnership with the Cypriot Ministry of Defence and the Cyprus Forum, continuing EUSI’s mission to link strategic debates with regional perspectives and concrete EU policy processes.
The dialogue will focus on strategies to counter hybrid threats, recent developments within the European defence industry, including the implementation of SAFE, and differences in threat perceptions across the EU and their implications for European security and defence. Discussions will draw on input papers prepared in advance by experts from the EUSI expert pool.
A future EUSI Policy Dialogue is planned to take place in Dublin in October–November 2026, in the context of Ireland’s ongoing EU Council Presidency, continuing EUSI’s mission to link strategic debates with regional perspectives and concrete EU policy processes. The event will be organised in cooperation with the Irish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade and The Institute of International & European Affairs, with the exact dates and agenda to be confirmed.
EUI and Łukasiewicz ITECH
Łukasiewicz – ITECH (Institute of Innovation and Technology) is a Polish interdisciplinary research institute operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network, one of the largest research networks in Europe. It functions as a think‑tank‑oriented research institute focusing on socio‑economic aspect of technological development. Broad R&D capacity of Łukasiewicz Research Network consists of over 4,500 specialists and more than 440 laboratories divided into 22 institutes spread over Poland dealing with numerous fundamental research and developing of innovation.
The cooperation between EUI and ITECH focuses on joint research, organization of joint events, training, and staff mobility across areas of shared strategic relevance. The EUSI policy dialogues are a key area of collaboration between the two institutions.