The US and the European Union will soon carry out the first joint naval military exercise. The news leaks from European sources, as reported by Ansa. The vessels, which belong to European member states, including an Italian ship, will be placed under EU command and train with their American counterparts. The place of mission is currently kept confidential. Today the European Commission adopted a communication on the EU's enhanced maritime safety strategy, which also envisages "intensifying activities at sea", including joint patrols, and "cooperating" more with partners.

The European Union also wants to organise joint naval exercises as part of plans to step up efforts to protect the most important maritime infrastructure.

This was said by the European Commissioner for the Environment Virginijus Sinkevicius. Concerns about the security of Europe's maritime infrastructure have been heightened by attacks on Nord Stream pipelines last September, which led to a natural gas spill into the Baltic Sea.

The European Union is expected to publish a note on the updated maritime security strategy, outlining plans for organising an annual EU naval exercise and coordinating Member States' national efforts to protect gas pipelines, submarine data cables, offshore wind farms and other crucial maritime infrastructure.

Sinkevicius told Reuters that the plan was conceived before the Nord Stream explosions, but was strengthened in response to these incidents.

"After this event, Member States were very clear about the need to further strengthen cooperation, build capacity and ensure better protection of our critical infrastructure," he said.

The EU plan is to increase cooperation between the EU and NATO, expand coastal patrols and improve data sharing between countries to identify threats early, for example by using EU satellite programmes to detect unidentified vessels.

Last month, a Russian vessel was detected at an offshore wind farm in the North Sea, which the Netherlands interpreted as an attempt by Moscow to obtain information to sabotage the infrastructure. Better surveillance of maritime areas should also help Member States monitor and respond to environmental degradation and climate change impacts, such as sea level rise.