A plan under which the European Commission will acquire a new, innovative role in the field of Defense, is to be presented today by the leading European body, as reported by Politico.
The aim of the project is to help Member States to coordinate their growing military spending.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought sweeping changes in European defense policy, pushing Sweden and Finland to join NATO and forcing countries to increase their defense spending. In a historic change, even Germany has pledged to increase its defense budget, while also sending heavy weapons to Ukraine.
In the face of this new reality, European officials told Politico that the “Defense-EU” plan to be presented today, Wednesday, would seek to give Brussels a role in ensuring greater efficiency in arms spending, allowing European buyers to work together to leverage the market.
Combining Europe’s ambitions for broader “strategic autonomy”, EU officials said the package would focus on industry. Central to the Communication is the Commission’s assessment of Europe ‘s defense investment gaps.
Europe’s needs are pressing. Diplomats say the € 2 billion arms development the EU has so far agreed to provide to Ukraine means that, in many cases, Member States, especially those with Soviet-era ammunition, have depleted their stocks. And now they have to “refill”.
In summary of what the EU is to achieve, the Foreign Minister, Josep Borrell “Europeans need to spend more and more together,” he said.
However, some European countries have historically disagreed with the deviation from the defense policy due to any possible overlap with NATO and fear of angering the United States, which leads the Western security alliance.
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