The Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, said on Wednesday 25 September that the Commission would have to develop the defence culture, with the creation of a new directorate-general dedicated to the defence industry and space.
"There is a defence culture within the European Commission that needs to be developed. Knowledge and expertise must be developed", she explained to the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence. According to the Commissioner, Member States will have to get involved. "It is clear that we will need Member State experts and more staff, because the finances managed by the European Commission will be much more important than in the past", she explained, pointing out that with DG GROWTH, she has been preparing the ground for the past 2 years.
While, according to Ms Bienkowska, there is already a good core staff, this is not enough "to manage a programme of this size".
In particular, the European Commission has proposed to endow the European Defence Fund with €13 billion and to allocate €6.5 billion for military mobility for the period 2021-2027. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)