The EU is arming itself. The new block defense strategy

As part of the new strategy, EU countries are required to collectively purchase at least 40% of defense equipment by 2030.

In Europe, voices are growing louder about the need to rapidly boost defense and rearmament capabilities. Russia’s war against Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s hopes of winning the election with his anti-NATO rhetoric are the factors that have upset the Europeans. The European Commission unveiled the European Defense Industrial Strategy and proposed an “ambitious set” of new measures to maintain the competitiveness and readiness of the EU’s defense industry.

More money

From 2025 to 2027, the EU budget will allocate €1.5 billion to improve the competitiveness of the technological and industrial base of the European defense sector, as stated, to respond to changes in the European security paradigm.

The plan provides for joint financing and ordering of weapons, modernization of the EU military-industrial complex, as well as other measures to strengthen defense companies.

The program budget also supports EU defense industry cooperation with Ukraine and the development of the industrial and technological base of the Ukrainian defense sector.

“We have to change the paradigm and move to the economic mode of war. This means that the European defense industry must take more risks with our support,” said the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.

The European Defense Industry Strategy aims, in the long term, to encourage European arms manufacturers to increase investment, improve production efficiency and, for the first time, collectively register the weapons they hold.

“We must take more responsibility for our own security, while maintaining, of course, our full commitment to our NATO alliance,” said European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager.

Trying to play it safe

The reasons for the major changes in the European Union’s industry and defense are the major war in Ukraine, as well as the statements of potential US presidential candidate Donald Trump regarding America’s commitments to the defense of allies in Europe.

“We have to get the transatlantic balance right, regardless of the dynamics of the US election,” said Margrethe Vestager, indicating that Trump will question the US’s commitment to NATO allies if he wins the election.

Among the proposals put forward by Thierry Breton was to improve the procurement system by creating an agency to buy ammunition, weapons and military equipment.

The new strategy calls for EU countries to collectively purchase at least 40% of defense equipment by 2030 and ensure that by 2030 the value of intra-EU defense trade is at least 35% of value of the EU defense market.

EU problems

However, the restart of the European defense industry is already facing many serious problems. Therefore, even with funds allocated for defense purposes, the European military-industrial complex needs structural reform.

First, many EU defense plants need to be modernized.

Second, the EU, as a union of different countries and not a state, initially did not have common tools for purchasing weapons. Each country created its own armies and armed them only with little regard for the defense plans of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Now these tools have to be created from scratch, increasing the role of pan-European institutions in the field of military industry.

The absence of such institutions in the past is also reflected in production – European states often duplicated weapons systems, as a result of which the countries of the continent built many different weapons and military equipment for the same purpose (for example, at least five main battle tanks are built in the EU).

The most radical countries

Estonia, France and Poland have called for an urgent boost to Europe’s defense capabilities, according to a document seen by The Guardian. These countries, wrote the British newspaper, outlined their priorities for the new European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS).

The three countries stated that the strategy should aim to: improve the long-term capacity of the EU’s defense industry, meet the needs of the armed forces, reduce strategic interdependence and increase the ability to rapidly increase production during situations of crisis; supporting major increases in ammunition stockpiles, availability of major weapons systems and other capabilities in various areas; strengthening the competitive advantage of the EU and Member States in technology and innovation – military and dual use – in particular by eliminating bottlenecks, securing supply chains and improving access to growth finance; strengthening cooperation with Ukraine and encouraging its participation in EU defense industry initiatives.