EU member states Estonia, France, and Poland have called the European Commission and other member states to “urgently” allocate considerable investment in the defense industry as the European Commission set to present the European Defense Industrial Strategy.
Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), Estonia, France, and Poland have jointly urged for a boost in funding for the weapon production industry. They have asked the EU Commission and other member states to allocate substantial amounts to support Europe’s defense sector. The three states outlined their priorities ahead of the European Commission’s upcoming New European Defense Industrial Strategy.
In a document, the three states jointly demand that,” We call upon the Commission to present concrete funding options, especially for the period leading up to the next [long-term EU budget]. Inadequate funding now will only mean higher expenditure at a later date.”
They further write, “We must ensure that the ambition of the Strategy is proportionate and backed by concrete actions that support our combat capability,” adding, “We are in a race against time.”
The European Commission is set to unveil a new defense strategy with a regulation named “European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP)” today aiming to enhance collaboration in the weapon production industry across the continent.
Estonia, France, and Poland urge the strategy to aim;
• Improve the long-term capacity of the EU defense industry to provide for the needs of our armed forces, reduce strategic dependencies, and enhance the ability to scale up production quickly in times of crises;
• Support a fundamental increase in Member States’ levels of battle-decisive munition stocks, availability of key weapon systems, and other capabilities across domains;
• Enhance the EU’s and its Member States’ competitive edge in (military and dual-use) technology and innovation, including by removing bottlenecks, securing supply chains, and improving access to growth finance;
• Strengthen cooperation with and encourage Ukraine’s participation in its defense industrial initiatives.
This move comes as the need of time as Ukraine is facing a severe ammunition shortage while European states grapple with the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House that can create implications for both Kyiv and transatlantic security commitments.
Despite such consensus, a major part of Europe agrees that it needs to enhance its defense capabilities and weapon production. Although there are still some divergences in member states’ views on reaching the set goals.
The upcoming proposed program for negotiations is expected to come up with a financial envelope of €1.5 Billion attached until 2018, while earlier this year, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton proposed a huge €100 Billion for a defense investment program to match the production industry with the required capacities in war-time pace, align with EU countries and Ukraine’s needs. “Russian shell production capacity matched the US and EU combined,” also said the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence Vadym Skibitskyi in a statement.
While Estonia, France, and Poland mutually said “We have invested hundreds of billions into an ambitious NextGenerationEU recovery plan to help repair the damage brought about by the pandemic and taken strong action to mitigate the recent energy crisis,” They further added, “While defense products present an inherently different set of challenges, the risks of a defense industry ill-equipped to meet the demand.”
They said the EU funds are not enough, and warned that all countries will have to urgently increase their national defense readiness, “We are in a race against time,” they stated.
“While cooperation should be encouraged, the Union should also consider supporting Member States’ national efforts to procure battle-decisive munitions, air and missile defense systems, and critical capabilities from the European Industry, taking into account existing supply chains, to reinforce the readiness of our armed forces,” they wrote.
The initiative by three EU capitals aims to boost the defense capabilities to strengthen the overall security landscape of Europe. France particularly has been in the leading role for efforts to demand a rise in financial plan with the European Union to surge defense spending, highlighting the significance of strong options for funding EU defense programs.
However, the EU’s defense industry plan is currently experiencing a funding challenge, underscoring the demands for a substantial funding plan for a sustained and advanced defense mechanism in Europe.
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