EU member states have failed to scale up defense investment in the last 20 years, the European Commission said in a report published on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2022) EU member states have failed to scale up defense investment in the last 20 years, the European Commission said in a report published on Wednesday.
At the EU's summit in Versailles in March, the European leaders tasked the European Commission to identify gaps in defense investment policy and propose steps to narrow them to bolster European defense industry and its technological base. Joint Communication on the Defense Investment Gaps Analysis and Way Forward appeared a result of those efforts. The document outlined three main types of investment gaps revealed across the EU, such as defense expenditure, defense industrial gaps and capability gaps, and featured possible measures to bridge these gaps.
The report specified that the EU increased its combined defense spending by 19.7% from 1999 to 2021, which seems inadequate compared to a 65.7%-increase in the United States, 292% in Russia and 592% in China.
"Had all Member States spent 2% of their GDP on defense with 20% dedicated to investment, since 2006 until 2020, this would have resulted in an additional approximately EUR 1,100 billion for defense ($1.154 billion), of which around EUR 270 billion on investment," the report read.
Regarding industrial gaps, the document claimed that the European Defense Technological Industrial Base is overall competitive, but has its set of shortcomings, such as the lack of cooperative investment, defense companies being structured along national borders and heavy dependence on import of key defense equipment and raw materials. Import dependence is particularly disturbing, as over 60% of EU defense procurement budget between 2007 and 2016 was spent on foreign military supplies from abroad, the report said.
Within the capability gaps, the European Commission identified three priorities, including replenishing stockpiles, replacing Soviet-era weapons and enhancing air and missile defense systems.
To address existing gaps and challenges over the short term, the European Commission proposed that EU member states procure military capabilities jointly, using a Defense Joint Procurement Task Force, which will be established in the near future. The body will "support the coordination their very short term procurement needs to face the new security situation." At a later stage, a European Defense Capability Consortia will be set up to enable member states to "jointly procure... defense capabilities that are developed in a collaborative way within the EU and will benefit from a VAT exemption."
The findings and recommendations outlined in the report are expected to be further discussed at the EU summit in late May.
