Andrius Kubilius, the Commissioner-designate for Defence and Space, made a good impression on MEPs on Wednesday 6 November, with a little humour but above all precise and quantified answers, based in particular on the report by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on the state of readiness of European civilian and military forces. He even received applause from all sides at the end of his hearing.
The candidate, who is still an MEP, was confirmed a few minutes later by the political group coordinators, obtaining 164 votes (the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, ECR and the Greens/EFA voted in favour) when he needed 110.
Accused by Marc Botenga (The Left, Belgian) of being the Commissioner for militarisation, Mr Kubilius described himself as a “Commissioner for peace”. “If you want peace, prepare for war”, he said, adding that for many years, Europeans had benefited from peace and that they now had to pay the dividends of that peace.
The former Lithuanian Prime Minister recalled that his mission letter asked him to help the EU prepare for “the most extreme military contingencies. This means that the EU must be prepared for a possible Russian aggression against the EU Member States”.
He therefore called for the establishment of a real single defence market, with the strengthening of European defence production and industry (see EUROPE 13511/21). Like the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Kubilius called to spend more, better and in Europeans. “When we talk about investment, we are talking about European industries, but also on the European continent”, he explained.
Defence funding. Money will be the nerve of war. The candidate was repeatedly questioned about the funds allocated to defence. “In my portfolio, there is only €10 billion (in the Multiannual Financial Framework), well these are the figures for 2021, there is even less now”, explained the Commissioner-designate, expecting there to be larger budget lines for defence and space in the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
But defence can’t wait. According to Enrico Letta, €500 billion would be needed. “We have to spend more, not because Trump demands it, but because of Putin and his threats”, explained Mr Kubilius. Without wishing to reveal his preferences regarding funding methods, he put forward several avenues. The candidate mentioned in particular the reallocation of unused European funds, for example under the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ or the Cohesion Fund, or the use of bonds. Mr Kubilius also explained that the funding proposals contained in Mr Niinistö’s report (see EUROPE 13515/1) should be studied.
He explained that he was in discussions with the members of the European Investment Bank to try to convince them to change the bank’s lending policy, which is very restrictive for defence. “I think we can find a way for the EIB to spend more on dual-use goods to set an example to other financial institutions”, he added. According to the Commissioner-designate, opening up banks to small and medium-sized enterprises would be a “good thing”, as they face difficulties in accessing financial resources.
Furthermore, Mr Kubilius felt that defence spending should not be seen as adding to national deficits.
Mario Draghi, in his report, estimated that if defence spending by all Member States represented 2% of GDP, this would represent an additional €60 billion per year. Mr Kubilius went further, saying that 2% was not enough.
Ukraine. Questioned, notably by Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, French), about support for Ukraine, the former Lithuanian Prime Minister reiterated the desire of the future European Commission to integrate the Ukrainian defence industry into that of Europe, even though no budget had been allocated to it. He felt that it was possible to help Kyiv by financing Ukrainian defence products used in Ukraine.
NATO. A “convinced Atlanticist”, Mr Kubilius explained that, whatever the personality of the American President-elect, it was the responsibility of Europeans to defend Europe.
“Europe must not depend on what happens in the United States”, he explained, just a few hours after Donald Trump’s re-election (see other news). “We must continue to cooperate with the United States, but sometimes we spend too much time debating American policies.(...) It is important to discuss our own policies, to strengthen our own military capabilities, to prepare ourselves in the event of attacks”, he explained.
The Commissioner-designate explained that the Atlantic Alliance was “the organisation that knows how to defend us”. But the EU can complement this. “There is no competition with NATO. We can present our added value in terms of capacity, raise funds and help with legislation”, he added.
Mr Kubilius felt that the EU should look at ways of helping its Member States to implement the defence plans adopted by NATO.
Space. Finally, Mr Kubilius hoped that the defence sector would learn from the space sector. “Our space capabilities are an excellent example of what EU Member States can achieve by working together in an area where none of them would succeed alone”, said Mr Kubilius, who in addition to defence will also be Commissioner for Space.
“According to some experts, the space economy is playing the same role today as the Internet economy did 20 years ago. Europe must take part in this space revolution”, pleaded the candidate, less at ease on this subject than on defence. Even though the EU is the world’s 2nd largest player, “the challenges are enormous” and the EU budget is only €14 billion over seven years.
Mr Kubilius made autonomous access to space a priority, adding that the Europeans were losing ground in terms of launch possibilities. The Commissioner-designate pointed out that the Iris² constellation would require the launch of 300 satellites. “It’s going to be a real challenge, and the new space industry is going to play a very important role”, he acknowledged, also highlighting micro-launchers.
Supporting the competitiveness of the space industry is another priority for Mr Kubilius, who believes that conditions must be created, as NASA has done in the past, for the participation of the private sector in the development of major space projects and for this industry to have access to financial resources.
He also pointed out that the new European space law, “a space code”, which will emphasise safety and help to create a single space market, would soon be presented. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)