“Reinforcing Europe’s defence is an urgent and monumental task”, declared former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Brussels on Thursday 14 November, as he presented his recent report on the EU’s civil and defence preparedness to MEPs.
The report’s recommendations were generally well received in the European Parliament, despite criticism from far-right MEPs about respect for national defence prerogatives (see EUROPE 13515/1).
Sauli Niinistö said that after years of under-investment, “we now need to broaden our industrial capacity base to produce cutting-edge military capabilities and mass-produce military assets such as artillery ammunition and effective drones”. It will also send a signal to the United States, especially after the outcome of the presidential elections, that Europe is ready to assume strategic responsibility, he stressed.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola spoke of the new realities facing the EU (wars, natural disasters). It is therefore more important than ever that the Union is prepared for this new, more uncertain future. “We must work together, across borders and sectors, to anticipate, prevent, resist and respond to major threats”, added Ms Metsola. In her view, Parliament is ready to play its part in ensuring that Europe is in a position to act when called upon to do so.
The security situation in Europe has worsened and we need to be better prepared”, said Lena Düpont (EPP, German). Defence and civil protection are two sides of the same coin. “We must achieve a common perception and understanding of risks, and we must bridge the geographical differences between natural disasters and man-made crises by strengthening coordination between the Member States and the EU, between the EU and NATO, between civilians and the military, and between society and politics”.
Eero Heinäluoma (S&D, Finnish) welcomed the balanced proposals contained in the report. He especially called for the EU to accept a “change of mindset”. Referring to the Treaties, he pointed out that the Union has a mutual assistance clause, and that procedures need to be in place for this clause and for assessing what to do if a Member State comes under external attack. “This is certainly not the time for silence”. This task will be entrusted to the new European Commissioner for Defence.
Elena Donazzan (ECR, Italian) spoke of the need to exclude military spending from the Stability and Growth Pact and to invest in the production and acquisition of arms, thinking in terms of interoperability and joint procurement, “with the full participation of the Member States”.
Bart Groothuis (Renew Europe, Dutch) deplored the fact that over the past 25 years European defence spending had remained more or less stable, while China had increased its defence spending by 600% and Russia by 300%. He called for the report’s excellent recommendations to be implemented.
Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA, German) welcomed the excellent report containing 80 proposals, all of which boil down to : “Let’s do it together or we’ll fail”. She mentioned state-sponsored cyber attacks, which have quadrupled in the last ten years, yet the EU has failed to react.
Pierre-Romain Thionnet (PfE, French) criticised the report’s proposals, in particular “where national sovereignty could be undermined or circumvented”. On the subject of identity, he said that immigration “endangers the entire continent”.
Dario Tamburrano (The Left, Italian) stressed that the real enemy of our continent is climate change.
An appropriate budget. “Our budget must reflect our political priorities, and security and defence have become a political priority”, said Siegfried Mureşan (EPP, Romanian). In line with Sauli Niinistö’s proposals, “we must adopt the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for the next seven years, in which security and defence are a priority, and in which we allocate significant resources”, he concluded. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)