The necessary strengthening of the European defense industry.

Franck Di Liberto
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August 28, 2024

On the occasion of the inauguration of the Eurosatory land armament show in France, President Emmanuel Macron expressed the wish for a "re-evaluation" of the 2019-2025 military programming law to "adjust the means to the threats".

"I have asked the Minister and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces to be able to re-evaluate this military programming law in the coming weeks in the light of the geopolitical context," he said, adding that France has "entered a war economy in which I believe we will be able to organize ourselves for the long term" and "in which we can no longer live with the grammar of a year ago.

Under certain circumstances, civilian materials or companies could be requisitioned for military purposes, while the war in Ukraine has highlighted the weakness of military stocks in Western countries.

But the French president also questions Europe's defense production apparatus. We must encourage a stronger European defence industry. If arms manufacturers are used to working over a long period of time to produce small quantities, essentially of sophisticated equipment, the enormous consumption of ammunition in Ukraine and Russia and the scale of destruction call into question these small series and raise the question of stocks.

The European Commission is working on the creation of two funds to help European states strengthen their defense, as well as on a possible reduction in VAT for European arms purchases. One fund should simply help the states that have given military equipment to Ukraine to replenish their stocks. The other should encourage the 27 Member States to make group purchases, in order to create effects of scale and competitiveness for European manufacturers.