The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Wednesday 15 September, during her State of the Union speech, the organisation of a Summit on Defence, in cooperation with France, during the French Presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2022.
“It is time for Europe to step up to the next level”, she told MEPs, saying the EU must be ready to do more with its own resources.
For Mrs von der Leyen, the EU must ensure stability in the neighbourhood and beyond, deal with new threats, including hybrid and cyber, and, as a “unique security provider”, should be present in certain missions where NATO or the UN are absent.
“What we need is the European Defence Union”, the President said. In her view, much more could be done if there was the political will to do so.
Regretting the fragmentation of information and knowledge, Mrs von der Leyen therefore called for the creation of a EU Joint Situational Awareness Centre, “to fuse all the different pieces of information and to be better prepared, to be fully informed and to be able to decide”. The EU already has a Situation and Intelligence Centre (Intcen).
Mrs von der Leyen also called for improved interoperability. “We have to keep thinking of new ways to use all possible synergies”, she said, proposing a VAT exemption for purchases of defence equipment developed and produced in Europe. “This would not only increase our interoperability, but also decrease our dependencies of today”, she said.
And since “we cannot talk about defence without talking about cyber security”, the President said there was a need for a European Cyber Defence Policy, proposing legislation setting common standards in a new European Cyber Resilience Act. According to the President’s letter of intent, a cyber resilience initiative should be proposed in 2022.
Mrs von der Leyen said that Member States also needed to do more. “We need to decide how we can use all of the possibilities that are already in the Treaty”, she added. “The Treaty gives us all possible options, so let’s do it now, what are we waiting for?”, asked Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany).
While the EU must be more autonomous, the President did not forget the partnership with NATO, explaining that the EU and the Alliance were preparing a new joint declaration, to be presented before the end of the year (see EUROPE 12734/8).
During the debate, Hilde Vautmans (Renew Europe, Belgium) regretted that Mrs von der Leyen did not mention the European army. “If we don’t take the step now towards a European army, when will it happen?”, she said. In contrast, Martin Schirdewan (The Left, Germany) asked: “Shouldn’t the money be invested in the fight against poverty?”
See the State of the Union address: https://bit.ly/3ltHxvq
See the letter of intent: https://bit.ly/3EmHlGS (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)