A study presented Wednesday (18) by top officials of the European Union (EU) calls for prioritizing domestic industry in efforts to re-arm the bloc in the wake of the “brutal awakening” caused by the war in Ukraine.
A report by Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, and Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Industry, points out that Europe has been “disarmed for years” and is in a critical situation with the return of war in the region.
The European Commission research indicates that defense expenditures among EU countries increased by 20% between 1999-2021, but grew by 60% in the USA, 292% in Russia and 592% in China during this period.
Thus, the outbreak of war in Ukraine was a real shock: European countries used their reserves to supply Ukraine with weapons, and many governments increased their defense budgets.
This work was requested by European leaders during a meeting in Versailles in February. The results of the document will be discussed at the summit scheduled for 30 and 31 May.
Re-cultivation continues
The European Commission emphasized in its report that “Mass rearmament continues”: EU member states have announced commitments of around 200 billion euros.
Germany, which has traditionally been very quiet on defense, plans to launch an extraordinary fund of 100 billion euros, which will increase its spending to 2% of its GDP.
Overall, NATO countries, 21 of which are also EU members, have committed to dedicate 2% of their GDP to defense spending in 2024.
However, only eight have done so: the United States, the United Kingdom, and six European countries (Poland, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Croatia).
In this scenario, three emergencies were identified: replenishment of ammunition and weapons stocks depleted by shipments to Ukraine; air defense capabilities and replacement of equipment inherited from the Soviet era.
The US has already started moves to equip its European allies by supplying Patriot air defense systems to replace Russian S-300 systems in Ukraine.
“We must get rid of Soviet equipment, but we cannot fall into non-European dependence,” said a European official.
broken taboo
For Breton “it is urgent to invest together, better and in Europe”.
The Commission proposes to create joint budget financial incentives to support EU industrialists. A senior official said he supports the “European choice”.
If European leaders accept this idea, a 500 million euro instrument will be created for the purchase of “multi-target” weapons for the period 2023-2024.
Group acquisition financing will be used at a later stage.
“We are breaking a taboo because the EU is forbidden to use the joint budget to finance military operations,” says a European source.
The European Peace Fund, which is used to finance the purchase and delivery of arms to Ukraine, was created by EU countries out of the common budget, and the decision to use it to help Ukraine must be unanimous.
About 5 billion euros have been allocated to this fund, of which 2 billion has already been allocated to finance the purchase of arms to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February.
This money is used to compensate for weapons taken from the stockpiles of member states.
“We have enough resources for 2022,” Borrell said. However, if the conflict continues beyond the end of the year, more money will be needed.
“If member states decide to roll over the money, it will be possible to increase their allocations,” he explained, although European stocks will need to be replenished.
source: Noticias
