The European Union announced a plan on Wednesday to end its defense dependence on the United States, with a focus on buying more weapons in Europe, and there are signs that Canada could join in.
The European Commission has presented its security strategy "Readiness 2030", in which the main concern is the threat of Russian aggression. NATO intelligence estimates suggest that Russia could attack a country in Europe again in three to five years.
Last month, the administration of US President Donald Trump signaled that US security priorities lay elsewhere - on its own borders and in Asia - and that Europeans would have to fend for themselves and Ukraine. At the time, the biggest land war in Europe in decades had entered its fourth year.
Under the EU strategy, its members will be called upon to buy most of their military equipment in Europe, working mainly with European suppliers, in some cases with EU assistance to reduce prices and speed up delivery. They should only buy equipment from outside Europe when it is preferable to buying it from within the EU due to price, performance or delivery delays.
In recent years, the 27 EU countries have placed about two-thirds of their orders with US defense companies. To qualify for the new loans, they would have to buy at least 65 percent of their equipment from suppliers in the EU, Norway or Ukraine.
"The security architecture we have relied on can no longer be taken for granted," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"We need to buy more European. Because that means strengthening the European defense, technological and industrial base. That means stimulating innovation. And that means creating a market for defense equipment across the EU," she added.
The strategy resembles the "Repover EU" scheme the commission proposed in 2022 to wean itself off Russian natural gas after President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine and used energy as a weapon to try to undermine EU support for Kiev.
This strategy led to a decrease in the EU's dependence on Russian gas imports from 45 percent in 2021 to 15 percent in 2023.
The new plan was unveiled ahead of a summit of EU leaders starting on Thursday. At emergency talks on March 6, they signed off on proposals to ease budget constraints and create a 150 billion euro loan plan for defense projects.
Defense firms in the US, UK and Turkey would be excluded from the loan scheme unless those governments sign security agreements with the EU.
France has been pushing the "Buy European" approach, but countries like Poland and the Netherlands want to buy American equipment.
EU countries are encouraged to strengthen security ties with non-EU NATO allies, including the UK, Canada, Norway, Australia, Japan, South Korea and India.
The strategy states that, while the United States is a key Western ally, it is clear "that it believes it is overly committed to Europe and needs to rebalance, reducing its historical role as the primary security guarantor."
Andrius Kubilius, the recently appointed and first EU Commissioner for Defence, warned that "450 million citizens of the European Union should not depend on 340 million Americans to defend themselves".
Spending priorities for joint procurement would be air and missile defense systems, artillery, ammunition, unmanned aerial vehicles, equipment for use in cyber and electronic warfare, and "strategic factors" such as in-flight refueling of aircraft and security installations at land borders.
To help Ukraine defend itself against a Russian invasion, the goal would be to provide at least two million artillery shells each year, supply more air defense systems, missiles, and drones, and continue training tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers annually.
More money would also be directed to Ukraine's defense industry.
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