On Tuesday, the European Commission will present the European Defense Industrial Strategy along with a subsidy fund of at least 1.5 billion euros called the European Defense Investment Programme, Politico reports.

If member states agree, it will mark the end of the post-Cold War peace dividend and shrinking military spending.

“The strategy is not a response to the war in Ukraine, but a broader response to a paradigm shift strategy. It is a recognition that defense is an issue that is not temporary,” said Camille Grand, former NATO assistant secretary-general and now distinguished policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The aim is to convince the EU – the second largest economy in the world – to finally start showing its strength in defense.

This is an idea that has been intertwined with the EU since its creation as the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951.

The plan for a European defense union was born in the mind of one of Europe’s founding fathers, the Frenchman Jean Monnet, and ended when French parliamentarians refused to ratify the treaty in 1954. Now another Frenchman, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, will lead the presentation of the EU executive’s defense plans, writes POLITICO.

Rather than forming a multinational military force, as envisioned in the early years of the Cold War, this time it will be about building up the bloc’s military-industrial complex as well as reducing Europe’s dependence on American weapons as there is strong concern over the rise of Donald Trump in the polls ahead of this year’s US elections.

The European Commission’s strategy breaks a taboo: while Brussels had previously agreed to use the EU budget to fund munitions production and incentivize joint procurement on an emergency basis, the Commission now wants to secure the principle in the long term.

However, this week’s defense plan does not conflict with the EU’s original goal of preventing war on European soil, according to Riho Terras, a member of the European People’s Party of Parliament and a former commander of the Estonian army.

“Europe must be prepared for war and since it is an economic union, we should focus on the defense industry,” he said.

Breton is expected to steer clear of politically charged proposals such as building a European army, and instead focus on where Brussels really has responsibility: the single market.

However, some of the proposals are extensive. They include duplicating the US Foreign Military Sales system to help EU countries build arms stockpiles and facilitate arms sales, as well as the ability to redirect civilian industry to defense in an emergency, plus financial incentives for more joint procurement weapons.

The money should only go to European companies, according to the Commission’s plan. Ukraine will be treated as a quasi-member country and allowed to participate in joint arms purchases.

The EU executive insists it is not overstepping. Defense “must remain a national responsibility,” Breton told French media on Monday. “It’s not about changing the conditions, it’s about working better within the conditions.”