The European Union plans to mobilize up to €800 billion for joint defense. To achieve this, EU debt rules are set to be relaxed, and a multi-billion euro fund is being considered to help Member States finance their military spending. This plan, unveiled today (Tuesday) by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), is a response to the U.S. retreat from Europe’s security architecture. The goal: enabling the EU to guarantee its own security in the long run.

Daniel Freund, Green MEP in the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee, comments:

“We need a European Defense Union. We can no longer rely on the U.S. for our security. It is the right move to mobilize the necessary investments to make Europe’s democracy resilient against external threats. But money alone does not create a European defense. We must not use European funds to finance national defense plans, encourage fragmentation, or buy American weapons. European money must go into a truly European defense strategy. That means: European planning, European procurement, and European coordination on defense matters. The defense budget must be placed under the control of the European Parliament. Only then can we ensure that Europe’s defense is both efficient and democratically accountable.”

Statement from the EU Commission on “ReArm Europe”:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_673