Islamism attacks us, Russia threatens us, the United States lets us go. Europe is therefore alone, in which it carries a historical responsibility, for it and for the world. For the world, the European Union is now the largest political ensemble on the planet based on the rule of law, that is to say the protection of the weakest, practicing economic freedom – not unfortunately – and fighting against global warming. It shares these characteristics with the United Kingdom and Canada, which must lead these three sets to deepen and multiply their cooperation in all areas.
The European Union also carries a responsibility for itself since it is threatened in its very existence. We can no longer exclude that, tomorrow, Russia leads a foray into a Baltic or Nordic country, threatening, not simply a territory but a civilization, a way of seeing the world and a way of life. However, European civilization exists. It is that of law, justice, solidarity, distance from religions, freedom of expression, sexual freedom. You have to read Stefan Zweig or Sandor Marai to be convinced. For others and for it, Europe has the imperative duty to protect itself.
Spending more is possible
The main way to do so is to make a massive military reset. The European Union countries spent, in 2024, 1.9 % of their GDP in military equipment. It is not even the 2 % threshold requested by NATO in peacetime! The United States is 3.5 % and Russia, certainly at war, at more than 6 %. One might think that, given the situation of public finances in Europe, spending more in this area is impossible. This is absolutely false. Only France suffers from a primary public deficit, excluding interest load, which worsens. Portugal, Greece and Ireland benefit, unlike a primary surplus. Italy and Spain are almost balanced, like Germany, which also benefits from weak debt.
In France, where 2 % of national income is devoted to defense, the president and the Prime Minister should put our fellow citizens before their responsibilities: we must collectively work more and our public sphere must reduce its current expenses so that we can spend more to protect us. Plan to retire at 62 but take on the head a poutine missile in two years is a bad calculation. Among the major European countries, only the Polish government, led by the excellent Donald Tusk, seems to have integrated it, with military spending over 4 % of its GDP, increasing.
France and Germany must talk to each other
What Europeans have understood even less is that they must now produce the equipment they buy, which is not the case today. Statistical data on the exact share of military purchases to Americans differ according to sources, but all agree towards a high proportion, much greater than 50 %. However, our continent is not lacking in companies in this sector: Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Thales, Leonardo, Rheinmetall, Saab … This ecosystem covers almost all of the military value chain, fighter planes for defense systems, via satellites or tanks. Certainly, our continent sometimes lacks production capacities, for example for ammunition. But this delay can be fully filled. We did it with the vaccines during the covid pandemic. You have to produce more!
It is often rightly stressed that the Germans are reluctant to buy European equipment because they do not want to offend the United States and NATO. This argument is more fragile than it seems. First, the United States protects Germany less and less, or even more. Even Olaf Scholz, particularly apathetic chancellor, seems to have understood this.
Second, Germany is protected by French nuclear weapons, funded by French taxpayers. The French manage their public finances badly, which is a concern for Germany. But Germany manages the organization of its defense, which is a problem for France. It’s time to talk about it between adults with the next chancellor who will arrive in Berlin.
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