According to a new report presented to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, the EU must confirm to the United States that it is willing to pay its share in defense matters.
ADVERTISINGAccording to a report on Europe’s civil and military preparedness published by former Finnish president Sauli Niinistö, the EU must be more proactive in its response to crises increasingly complex challenges facing the world.
A week before the US presidential elections, Niinistö stated that the EU must send a signal that it is willing to pay for its defense, adding that the bloc should spend around 20% of your budgetwhich currently amounts to one billion euros in seven years, in Security and crisis preparedness.
“Las threats do not stop at our bordersbut cascade through the interconnected sectors of our economy,” said Niinistö’, whose report was requested by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, adding that “if we do not do everything we can to our own safetyWe can’t expect others to do it for us.
In recent years The EU has faced several crisesincluding the COVID-19 virus pandemic, a war on our borders and the hottest year on record, but despite collective efforts, Member States are not yet fully prepared for the most serious multidimensional crisis scenarios, according to the 165-page report.
The report comes as the United States prepares to go to the polls on November 5. The idea that Republican candidate Donald Trump could cut aid to Ukraine devastated by war, or even abandoning its commitment to mutual defense with NATO members, has spread panic throughout Europe.
He European Defense Industrial Program of 1.5 billion euros proposed by the Commission in March has been criticized for being under-resourced, and is expected to be refocused when the bloc proposes a realignment of its seventh budget, scheduled for next year.
Two gaps in the EU’s defensive strategy
Niinistö warned of two main gaps in the EU’s preparedness strategy: the lack of a clear plan in case of armed aggression against a Member State, and lack of fully operational capacity of the EU to coordinate and act together across institutional and operational silos.
“The territorial integrity and political independence of each Member State are inextricably linked. If the security of a Member State or its sovereigntythis directly affects the other 26 and the Union as a whole,” says the report.
The war in Ukraine has also revealed significant shortcomings in Europe’s military and defense capabilities, which the Commission estimates will require an injection of some 50,000 million euros in the next decade to remain competitive against global players such as the US and China.
“Member States must strengthen their cooperation in defense matters jointly investing more to fill long-standing gaps in our military and defense industrial readiness,” he added, while underscoring the importance of supporting Ukrainian industry in the long term.
Despite the increase in budgets last year, less than one in five investments in defense programs were made jointly, and 82% of defense funding and procurement was allocated at national level.
The report aims to serve as a wake-up call to the Member States, to which the former Finnish president recommends that collaborate more closelymore quickly and placing citizens at the center of the crisis preparedness strategy. “Many of the proposals in this report will undoubtedly be difficult to reach consensus among Member States (…). We should also be open to launch new initiatives to improve preparedness, where necessary only among Member States that wish to do so, to allow for faster action,” he suggests.
