The Commissioner-designate for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, is being asked by MEPs in written questions to be answered by 22 October how he intends to achieve the “ambitious” objective of building a “genuine European Defence Union”.
With Mr Kubilius expected to produce a White Paper on the future of European defence within his first 100 days in office, MEPs questioned his priorities for helping Member States to regenerate European defence capabilities in the short, medium and long term in order to guarantee the security of EU citizens, asking him for examples of initiatives that could be developed.
The Commissioner-designate has also been asked about the legislative proposals and initiatives he wishes to propose for adoption during his term of office, particularly during the first 100 days, and how these will help to strengthen European competitiveness.
“What are your plans, in particular, for the single market in defence products and services, the European Defence Fund (EDF), EU space legislation, the strategy for a space data economy and the implementation of the instrument to strengthen the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA), the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), the European Defence Industrial Strategy and the EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence?” ask MEPs. They are particularly interested in the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), wanting to know how Mr Kubilius will make the most of the programme’s budget and structures, and what he believes would be the appropriate financial resources for EDIP.
MEPs also want to know what measures will be taken to strengthen the defence industry’s capacity to produce sufficient quantities of relevant products and services efficiently and competitively, and to extend defence industrial capabilities throughout the EU in order to reduce excessive external dependency.
MEPs also question how to ensure that defence becomes a real priority in the next multiannual financial framework, and in particular how to ensure that defence programmes are adequately funded in both the short and long term. They asked for Mr Kubilius’s views on other ways of financing defence, such as own resources, proposals to support the leverage effect of private investment, “for example the reform of the statutes of the European Investment Bank, the use of frozen Russian assets and Eurobonds”.
In the space sector, MEPs have questions about Mr Kubilius’s plans to guarantee the EU’s strategic autonomy in this sector and promote the EU’s role as a global player, as well as his vision for future EU space legislation. Access to space and the challenges associated with the sustainable use of space have also been raised. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)