Commission launches plan to boost defense spending

EU will spend €500 million a year on defense research from 2020.

The European Commission announced Wednesday plans designed to encourage greater cooperation between EU governments in defense procurement and research.

Under the European Defense Action Plan, the EU will allocate €500 million in annual funding for defense research from 2020 and change the European Investment Bank’s rules to allow it to fund defense projects.

The plan builds on the EU’s Global Strategy for Security and Defense, developed by the bloc’s foreign policy chief Commissioner Federica Mogherini, and is intended to reinforce the EU-NATO joint declaration, signed earlier this year in Warsaw.

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“This is a game changer,” Single Market Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska was expected to say at the launch of the plan. “It is an unprecedented move from the Commission.”

The EU also intends to encourage more cooperation between national governments in specific research areas, such as drone or satellite technology, by creating a special board including representatives from industry, the European Defense Agency (EDA) and governments.

“We have a big opportunity now with the push from heads of state and government, with the Commission playing an important role in putting [funding proposals] on the table,” Jorge Domecq, the chief executive of the EDA said. “You can’t have strong defense if you don’t have a strong industrial base.”

Although new legislation has not been proposed, both governments and MEPs must agree on any changes to the EU’s spending plans. Next year’s budget includes €25 million for defense projects, with a similar amount expected for 2018.

“We should not spend money on the same defense research several times in EU member states,” said Siegfried Mureșan, a center-right Romanian MEP responsible for negotiating the EU’s 2018 budget. “We should spend it once at EU level and should all benefit from it.”

Not everyone is on board.

“It’s not at all a good way to go forward,” said Laetitia Sedou, a spokeswoman for the European Network Against the Arms Trade, a network of NGOs that plan to boost campaigning activities in the coming months. “We have the feeling that the world is going through a new race for more arms on all sides. [The EU] should focus on focus on conflict prevention, not encourage over-armament.”