So far, however, those good intentions have been accompanied by very little cash — only €1.5 billion in the European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP). That’s “not a lot of money,” admitted Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager.
While the Commission can talk a good game, its plans need to be approved by the European Parliament and — crucially — by member countries which have historically been protective of their national sovereignty when it comes to military and weapons spending.
Amid criticism from senior EU diplomats the EU executive was keen to stress the plan is neither a power grab nor a push to change treaties. “These matters are in the hands of member states, not in the Commission’s. We just provide tools,” said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The ideas have been gestating for months, and it will be years before they are fully enacted — but they do mark a “milestone,” as Vestager put it. Here are five takeaways from the proposals:
1. It’s not great news for the U.S. arms industry
One of the strategy’s objectives is to ensure EU governments buy fewer weapons from the Americans (although, in a sign of U.S. defense dominance, the actual presentation included a photo of a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet jet fighter).
Back in September, several officials said, French and EU bureaucrats were horrified by a study conducted by French think tank IRIS showing that the overwhelming majority of European defense spending was going to contractors outside the bloc. That study was referenced in most of the Commission’s consultation documents on the strategy.
