Why not the Leonardo-Fincantieri merger. Speak Gaiani (Defense Analysis)
From Draghi's words on European defense, to Russian sanctions, from the sale of Oto Melara and Wass to the hypothesis of a Leonardo-Fincantieri merger. Startmag conversation with Gianandrea Gaiani, director of Defense Analysis
“On European defense, Draghi said many things. Among these, we will have to march towards a union that becomes a federation of states. So as to have a joint military instrument between all European countries. This is a political goal rather than a military one. And it is not reachable ”: Gianandrea Gaiani, director of Defense Analysis , thinks, commenting on the words of the Prime Minister at the end of the European Council .
Furthermore, Gaiani believes that European defense only makes sense if it is an alternative to NATO.
Speaking of an Italian military pole, the director of Difesa Analysis argues that it is necessary for Italy to create "a large national defense holding that will hold large national industries such as Leonardo, Fincantieri and Electronics under its umbrella."
All the details of Startmag 's conversation with Gianandrea Gaiani, director of Defense Analysis .
BECAUSE A FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN STATES IS UNACTABLE
To achieve the goal of a European federation of states, hoped for by Draghi, so as to then have a joint military instrument between all European countries, Europe started on the wrong side according to Gaiani. “First we create the Federation of States, with a single currency and then we give ourselves an army”, says the director of Defense Analysis .
“Europe continues to be made up of nations that can improve military cooperation. They are already doing a lot to have joint military programs where airplanes, tanks are developed. But they are nations that have profoundly different and sometimes conflicting interests. Let's take the most striking example today: that of the interests of the Baltics and Poles, who are very aggressive towards Russia, while other countries would like an agreement for peace in Ukraine as soon as possible ”, underlines Gaiani.
WHO DETERMINES FOREIGN POLICY IN EUROPE?
“When we are all together, who is it that determines the foreign policy of France or Italy's Poland?” Asks the director of Defense Analysis .
“For years Italy has been asking for greater attention from the EU and NATO in the Mediterranean that does not exist because other countries are looking further east. The idea of a federation of European states leading to the creation of a certain European armed force does not seem to me an objective, neither around the corner, nor credible. Especially when we are witnessing the European Union, as it is today, which has made important progress on military cooperation between states: with funds for European defense and with important partnerships to develop military products also to be exported. But it is a European Union that is not serving Europe's interests ”, argues Gaiani.
DEFICIT OF DEMOCRACY IN THE EU COMMISSION
For Gaiani at the moment there is a "deficit of democracy in the European commission, a problem of democratic representation in Europe".
“Let's look at all the initiatives taken by Europe of the European Union – says the expert. In the face of the war in Ukraine, there is not one – from sanctions on Russia to the oil embargo – there is not one that has benefited. On the contrary, they are economic disasters, with further increases in the cost of raw materials, favoring speculation on the prices of the same. The decision to stop oil imports has already led to an increase in the price of gasoline at the pump ”.
Also, when von der Layen says "Putin must lose and he will lose" in who's name? The director of Defense Analysis is questioned. “On behalf of the unanimity of the European countries? When does he talk about this who does he represent? Such a choice implies consequences for years ”.
WHY A EUROPEAN DEFENSE SHOULD NOT BE COMPLEMENTARY TO NATO
Turning to European defense, Gaiani raises some doubts about the characteristic of being "joint and complementary to NATO".
“European defense that has autonomous strategic capabilities is not, in my opinion, complementary to NATO, because there is no need for it in this sense. Today, with the Atlantic Alliance about to incorporate Finland and Sweden, I would say that NATO does not need to be in direct complementarity with the military European Union because NATO itself does its job very well, ”says Gaiani.
“The European Union, European defense makes sense if it is an alternative to NATO. That is, if it allows Europe to have strategic capabilities on its territory, on the European continent and also outside it, in which it can strategically move independently from the United States. Here it makes sense if it allows autonomy from the United States. If it is complementary to NATO, it remains in the perspective of dependence on the United States ”, points out the director of Defense Analysis .
DEFENSE, MAINTAIN THE ITALIAN ASSETS
On the question of Leonardo's sale of Bu Sistemi di Difesa, it is essential that Oto Melara and Wass remain Italian for the director of Defense Analysis . “After all, if Fincantieri is a large manufacturer of military ships, it makes sense that within its group there could also be the company that produces naval guns, underwater systems for submarines [Wass]”, Gaiani points out.
“If we maintain our assets also in the terrestrial, capable of producing vehicles, also collaborating with the Germans, with Rheinmetall, collaborating with others, we maintain the ability to develop terrestrial systems. If we become 15% of a group that is led by the German francs, we would have the ability to produce the means that the German francs want, which is not the same thing, ”he stresses.
ABOUT THE FINCANTIERI-LEONARDO MERGER
Finally, on the hypothesis of a merger between the two national defense champions Leonardo and Fincantieri, the director of Difesa Analysis has no doubts.
“Merging Fincantieri with Leonardo? I don't see the rationale ”, comments Gaiani. “I believe that we should instead work to create a large national defense holding that holds the large national industries such as Leonardo, Fincantieri and Elettronica under its umbrella. Therefore, having a national holding company so that these large companies coordinate so as to be complementary and non-competitive with each other. So that they are joint products when they have the technological capacity to do so and not disjoint products that will then end up competing. Therefore, create a defense pole that acts as coordination between these companies and promotes greater rationality in programs. "
The merger doesn't make much sense according to Gaiani. “Even the markets would not welcome it. Instead, creating a large holding under which to hold the largest Italian defense industries would give us greater weight abroad, even in cooperation programs with allies, would allow us to rationalize more research and development on different products, avoid internal competition (unpleasant) placing us as important partners to the European allies ”, concluded the director of Defense Analysis .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/perche-no-alla-fusione-leonardo-fincantieri-parla-gaiani-analisi-difesa/ on Fri, 03 Jun 2022 05:19:40 +0000.