The highest officials of the European Union presented today ambitious plans to strengthen the bloc's military industry in response to the threat posed to European security by the war in Ukraine.
For decades, the EU was ensconced by the protection of the USA through NATO, and its expenditures and readiness for defense and crisis situations declined.
During the time of former US President Donald Trump, it became apparent that Brussels does not have the good coordination and supply needed if it were ever forced to defend itself without Washington's help.
Now, with an increasingly confident Moscow, the need to strengthen the military industry is increasingly emphasized.
"After decades of underinvestment, we need to invest more in defense, but we need to do it better and together. A strong, resilient and competitive European defense industry is a strategic imperative," said the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell.
The weaknesses of the European military industry, neglected since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, were also demonstrated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe was not ready to urgently deliver the promised necessary and most elementary ammunition to Kiev.
Now, with the possibility of Trump returning to the White House and a decline in US support for Ukraine, the EU has realized that it must strengthen both the military industry and its defense.
"Our defense spending goes to too many different weapons systems, primarily bought outside the EU," said European Commission Vice President Margret Vestager.
Given that defense budgets in EU countries are increasing, "we should invest better, which to a large extent means joint investment, and investment in Europe," she said.
It is proposed that the member states jointly purchase at least 40 percent of the military equipment they acquire, and that by 2030, 35 percent of the military industry's revenue will come from sales within the EU.
Until now, the EU had a target of producing one million artillery shells per year, but it produces only about half of that amount.
Now there are announcements that by the end of December, production could reach and remain at 1,4 million shells per year.
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