On Tuesday 12 May, Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called for sufficient funding to be provided for security and defence, despite the economic implications of Covid-19 for national and European budgets.
At the end of the Defence Ministers' videoconference on the implications of Covid-19, he stated that “we must safeguard the funding needed for security and defence, both in the Member States and at EU level”.
Next week, the European Commission might present its new Multiannual Financial Framework proposal, which will take the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic into account. Borrell hoped that in the proposal, “the resources allocated to the defence and security policy will not diminish, because the coronavirus has brought a new threat and it requires a stronger defence and security policy, a stronger Europe in the world”.
The High Representative did not hide his concerns about the possible political repercussions of the pandemic in some non-Member States. “Generally speaking, all emerging and developing countries will suffer the full economic effects of the crisis”, he explained, citing the decrease in remittances from emigrants, and the decline in oil revenues, revenues from other raw materials and from tourism. “Throughout Africa and Latin America, this is going to be a problem and, obviously, I am very concerned about what may happen as a result of the economic crisis that followed the health crisis, and the political crisis it could turn into”, he said.
Borrell announced that, during their discussion, the defence ministers began reflecting on the specific lessons to be learnt from the pandemic, and its strategic implications, “thereby paving the way for the future of our security and defence policy”. Ministers agreed on the five areas of work proposed by the European External Action Service: solidarity, responsiveness, resilience, capacity and partnership (see EUROPE 12484/5). They will return to the matter in June.
Borrell felt that both the way in which military assets were used to support civilian authorities and European preparedness and resilience needed to be strengthened. He also said that the lessons learned from the crisis should be an additional driver for capacity development and defence cooperation.
Lastly, he warned that the redeployment of staff from EU missions in the field “should be carried out in a coordinated manner as soon as conditions allow” (see EUROPE 12469/21). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)