The European Commission proposed, this Tuesday, March 5, to drastically strengthen the EU defense industry in the face of the Russian threat, in order also to depend less on the United States in arms production.
In detail, it proposes that by 2030, “50% of military equipment” ordered by member states be supplied by European industry, its vice-president declared to the press, Margrethe Vestagerwhile 68% of arms purchases made in the EU for the benefit of Ukraine are made from American manufacturers, said European Commissioner Thierry Breton, in charge of defense industries.
Brussels wants to encourage the 27 to acquire military equipment together by creating favorable conditions for joint purchasing programs. “We are not here to finance” arms purchases but to help member states do it better and together, said Thierry Breton.
The new European defense strategy, presented on Tuesday by the Commission, will have an initial budget of 1.5 billion euros. “It’s not a lot of money,” admitted Margrethe Vestager. But this sum will serve as an incentive, a bonus for member states each time they want to pool their resources to acquire or develop arms production in Europe, she added. “The real funding will come from the Member States,” explained the Competition Commissioner.
Competing with the American defense industry
EU countries spent 58 billion euros last year to acquire weapons, said the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. The EU budget will not “replace” national budgets to reach this sum, he stressed.
The Commission nevertheless suggests using the income generated by Russian assets frozen in Europe to increase this initial budget by 1.5 billion euros. Some 200 billion euros of Russian assets of the Central Bank of Russia have been frozen in Europe.
Commissioner Breton, for his part, mentioned a budget of some 100 billion euros over several years to enable Europeans to develop their defense industry, make it competitive with the United States and strengthen aid to Ukraine in the war started by Russia. Some European countries are in favor of it, but others like Germany are much more reluctant. “We will have to work on it within the framework of a future mandate,” indicated Thierry Breton. The five-year term of the current Commission comes to an end at the end of this year.