Here’s how the EU Commission wants to accelerate defense spending. Le Monde Report
Brussels wants to promote cooperation between EU member states in defense for the development and acquisition of armaments. Le Monde's analysis
Neither Barack Obama nor Donald Trump had succeeded, but Vladimir Putin will have unwittingly succeeded: by launching a war on their borders on February 24, the Russian president brutally incited European leaders to reinvest in defense. “Europe is in danger. War is upon us. NATO has created a false sense of well-being, ”said Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs on Wednesday 18 May. Together with the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Defense Industry, Thierry Breton, he presented a vast project for what he called "not a rearmament, but an end to silent disarmament". This is what the heads of state and government asked in Versailles in March. Writes Le Monde .
The plan, based on a report from the European Defense Agency (EDA), aims to make up for lost time, replenish stocks, urgently fill gaps, support industry and ensure EU rearmament in the medium term. The Commission is also trying to re-launch an idea that is anything but new: cooperation between Member States in the development and procurement of armaments, to avoid waste and fragmentation. In fact, "while the United States has only one model of tank, Europe has twelve," Borrell joked.
The topic was vast: currently only 11% of EU investments are made jointly, far from the – prudent – 35% target that had been formulated within the framework of the "permanent structured cooperation" policy for defense.
ESTABLISH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Between 1999 and 2021, European defense spending increased by 20%, that of the United States by 66%, that of Russia by 292% and that of China by 592%. However, the overall budget of the European states is close to that of Beijing and four times higher than that of Moscow. But the question of the effectiveness of their armies is raised and, in total, around € 1.3 trillion of investments, of which € 270 billion in capacity, have not been made since the turn of the century. This would have happened if the 21 European member states of NATO had achieved the goal of spending 2% of their domestic product on defense. About ten of them are still a long way from achieving this goal. France, on the other hand, has achieved this, as have Greece, Poland, the Baltic states and Portugal, among others.
Investing more, better and in a "European sense", purchasing equipment together to achieve economies of scale, establishing strategic priorities, supporting the continent's industrial base, developing research and development: the ambition is great. To translate this into action, the Commission is counting on the shock caused by the invasion of Ukraine. In any case, it has already pushed the EU-27 to plan spending € 200 billion for the next few years.
In the short term, based on an EDA report, the goal is to replenish ammunition stocks, replace Soviet-era equipment (many of which have been sent to Ukraine) and strengthen air and missile defense systems. . In the medium term, the other challenges relate to the production of medium altitude drones, in-flight refueling capabilities, space defense systems, new maritime and coastal surveillance capabilities, equipment to counter cyber attacks, etc. In the land sector, according to experts, the idea is above all to develop the production of armored vehicles and tanks.
It should be noted that the Franco-German “tank of the future” (MGCS) project is still stalled and is being criticized, particularly by Italy . The Future Air Combat System (FCAS), which is expected to replace the German and Spanish Rafale and Eurofighters, is suffering a similar fate, due to a disagreement between Dassault and Airbus, which should work together to get it off the ground.
EASY ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS
Another obstacle is how to avoid that the 67 billion annual investments that Europeans have committed to make go to the benefit of foreign industries, especially American ones. Today the European sector receives only 40% of orders. A joint procurement task force should be established to coordinate procurement. In the near future, € 500 million will be made available to encourage cooperation between countries wishing to strengthen their capacities. In late 2022, the Commission will propose a European Defense Investment Program, a project for a procurement "consortium". This would be a framework for the joint development and acquisition of equipment, resulting in exemption from VAT.
The defense industry should also have easier access to rare materials and essential components, Breton promises. The training of scientists, engineers and mathematicians is another of the areas proposed by Brussels, which also intends to encourage the European Investment Bank to support the sector more.
“Nobody listened to us before the war. Everyone smiled. I hope that the situation changes, that the Member States wake up, ”Borrell said Wednesday. In any case, the Commission invites them to address "urgently and collectively" the security deficiencies highlighted – once again – by Vladimir Putin.
(Extract from the foreign press review by Epr comunicaione)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-come-la-commissione-ue-vuole-accelerare-la-spesa-in-difesa-secondo-le-monde/ on Sat, 21 May 2022 06:04:05 +0000.