The EU Commission announced the defense industry strategy. The purpose is to wake up member countries to invest more money in defense.
BRUSSELS The need to support Ukraine has awakened the EU to notice the weak state of its defense capacity. Today, Tuesday, the EU Commission announced the defense industry strategy, which aims to improve the EU’s readiness and get member countries to invest in defense.
The EU’s problem is that the member countries make their defense procurements on their own and mostly from outside Europe, from the United States. After the war in Ukraine, the stocks have been replenished so that three quarters of the military equipment has been acquired from outside the EU. We want to change this.
The goal is now for member states to make at least half of their defense budget purchases from within the EU by 2030. Five years from now, the requirement will tighten to 60 percent.
In addition, member countries are encouraged to make joint purchases and tender manufacturers together.
1.5 billion euros are promised from the EU budget to speed up the projects.
The Commission emphasizes that its task is to encourage cooperation and highlight opportunities. The Commission will not, for example, start buying weapons, and even the EU treaties would not allow it.
Weapons are not procured from the EU budget and the defense industry is not directly financed. The member states make independent decisions about investing in defense.
Last spring, for example, the EU promised to deliver a million ammunition to Ukraine within a year. We are badly behind schedule.
The commissioner responsible for drafting the strategy Thierry Breton said that by making various activities more efficient, the ammunition capacity doubled in ten months and will double again next year.
The problem is no longer so much in the factories, but the brake is the lack of long orders from the member countries. It prevents factories from investing.
We hope for money from the European Investment Bank
The Commission asks the European Investment Bank to change its lending policy so that defense could also receive bank financing.
In any case, the defense industry is wanted on the same line as the rest of the industry, so that it can better be heard by banks and investors. The investor could also evaluate the defense industry with the same sustainability criteria related to the environment as other sectors.
Ukraine has been closely included in the strategy. An innovation office will be established in Kyiv as a meeting place between European and Ukrainian industry, because it is important for Ukraine to develop its own armaments.
In addition, Ukraine will be able to participate in EU programs supporting the defense industry.