MNI BRIEF: Brussels Launches European Defence Industry Plans
The EU has llaunched the European Defence Industry Programme -- a new legislative initiative that will provide a longer-term collaborative approach among member states to achieve defence industry readiness.
The strategy is aimed at boosting the timely availability and supply of defence products in response to emerging threats to its security, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, with Brussels saying the bloc must move from “crisis defence mode to structural defence readiness.”
The move could be a further drain on both EU and national government budgets, as defence spedning is ramped up, in part for some to meet NATO agreements. EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton has mooted long-term annual running costs to Brussels of EU defence of around EUR100 billion in recent comments.