On Wednesday 17 December, in adopting the report by Christophe Gomart (EPP, French) ‘European Defence Readiness 2030: assessment of needs’ (425 votes in favour, 120 against, 96 abstentions), MEPs called for strengthening of defence funding instruments (see EUROPE 13696/5).
Believing that European defence cannot be achieved without private capital, they put forward 14 proposals, including the formal extension of the mandate of the European Investment Bank (EIB) with the creation of a subsidiary dedicated to defence and sovereignty. The EIB should also increase its Defence Equity Facility (DEF) from €175 million to €1 billion. “By investing in specialist funds, DEF reassures private investors and encourages them to provide more capital. This mechanism will make it easier to finance SMEs and avoid takeovers by foreign powers”, according to Christophe Gomart.
The European Parliament is calling for an instrument to be set up to support public and private investment in defence on the basis of guarantees from the EU budget, along the lines of InvestEU.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/k29 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)