Now is the time for peace through strength, the time to unite our efforts for defense, said the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the beginning of the plenary session of the European Parliament, which is meeting in Strasbourg, BTA reports.
„We are facing a crisis of European security, but we know that Europe was built precisely in crises. So the time has come to achieve peace through strength, to make efforts in the field of common defense“, said Von der Leyen.
According to her, if the EU now manages to mobilize its industrial power, attacks “by those who want to harm us“ can be prevented.
“The European security order has been shaken and so many of our illusions have been shattered“, she said, giving the example of how after the Cold War some thought that Russia could be integrated into the European economic architecture and security structures, while others believed that Europe could forever rely on full protection from America.
That is why, according to her, Europe has let down its guard and has not invested enough in its defense. “The time for illusions is over. Europe must take greater responsibility for its own defense, not in some distant future, but today,” added Von der Leyen.
“It is high time to create a European Defense Union that guarantees peace on our continent through unity and strength. Now is the time for Europe to act and Europe will rise to the occasion. Long live Europe,” said Von der Leyen.
She noted that there was consensus on European defense at the last European Council, but added that even more courage would be needed in the coming weeks and months, as other difficult decisions lay ahead.
“We need to invest in European defense immediately,” added the EC President, explaining that this had to be done because of the situation in Ukraine. According to her, the gaps in the supply of military equipment must be filled immediately.
“We are rethinking the defense of the whole of Europe and of our entire community. Putin has repeatedly proven to us that he is a hostile neighbor whom we cannot trust, we can only deter him“, she added.
Von der Leyen noted that the production of military equipment in Europe must be accelerated and increased, emphasizing the use of national budgets. According to her, the EU spends less than 2% of GDP on defense on average, and all analyses show that a level of over 3% must be reached.
The EC President commented that the bulk of the new defense investments needed can only come from the member states. "We intend to activate the national escape clause, under our new framework for fiscal rules," she said, adding that the clause would be activated in a controlled and limited period. "Member states will be able to invest €650 billion over four years, increasing defence spending by 1.5% of GDP over the next four years," Von der Leyen said.
The EC President also outlined the idea of a new financial instrument for European security, through which up to €150 billion could be provided in the form of loans to member states, subject to certain criteria, for relevant areas of strategic importance. Such areas include drones, missiles, ammunition, artillery systems, cyberspace and military mobility.
She explained that investments should be multi-annual, and loans should be directed towards the purchase of equipment from European manufacturers.
Ursula von der Leyen identified another element in relation to increasing defense capacity - mobilizing private investment.
According to her, the actions expected to be taken in the field of defense in the EU will create new factories and new production lines that will generate jobs. According to her, the effects of the economic boost will be felt far beyond the military industry - be it in steel production or in cybersecurity companies.