In a plenary debate on Tuesday 11 March, representatives of the European Parliament’s main political groups gave their backing to the ‘ReArm Europe’ programme presented last week by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13592/1), which could free up €800 billion for defence.
While stressing that the programme was a “good first step”, the MEPs called for more to be done. “We would save a lot of money by acting together. We need standardisation, a common public procurement procedure and a market for industrial military goods in the EU,” explained Manfred Weber (EPP, German), adding that joint European projects also needed to be developed.
According to Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, Spanish), “loans backed by a common debt should be the basis of a new instrument, the successor to a Next Generation EU”. “We need to work very quickly on the Eurobonds proposed by the European Parliament and a number of governments, and see how we can mobilise Europeans' savings ,” added Valerie Hayer(Renew Europe, French).
Several MEPs, including Valérie Hayer, insisted on European preference. “We need to be able to defend ourselves. Yes, let’s buy European, let’s invest European, let’s produce European. Yes to the €800 billion, to getting out of the fiscal rules and even to a common loan, and yes to a European preference, otherwise our money will go to feed economies other than our own. Without European preference, there can be no strategic autonomy and therefore no sovereignty,” she emphasised.
According to Jordan Bardella (PfE, French), there is a need to “build the autonomy of the nations of Europe, to ensure that no one but ourselves determines our interests and our security conditions”. He highlighted the potential role of France, which could “once again become a driving force on the continent” thanks to its army, its industrial base and its nuclear deterrent. Several MEPs, including Manfred Weber, felt that the EU should “respond to France’s proposal to define the French nuclear shield as a kind of European shield”.
A number of MEPs also warned that the defence of Europe required more than weapons. “Let's not call it ‘ReArm Europe’ but ‘Defend Europe’. We must defend Europe, the peace and freedom we enjoy. Defence is not just about machine guns, but also about strategic infrastructure, raw materials, communications systems and technological innovation ,” said Nicola Procaccini (ECR, Italian). “Defence is not just about weapons and munitions, it is also about infrastructure, cyber security and energy independence,” added Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Dutch).
On behalf of The Left, Martin Schirdewan (German) called for the nationalisation of the means of producing defence equipment.
Despite support for ‘ReArm Europe’, a number of concerns have been raised. Bas Eickhout reiterated that the green transition and the security agenda should not be treated separately, and called for increased spending on both fronts. Iraxte García Pérez also warned that care must be taken to ensure that investment in defence does not come at the expense of social spending and the welfare state. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)