EU presents 'first-ever' defence industrial strategy

Brussels, March 6: The European Union (EU) has presented its "first-ever" European Defence Industrial Strategy at the EU level in response to security concerns.

"To increase European defence industrial readiness, Member States need to invest more, better, together, and European," the European Commission (EC) said in a press release on Tuesday.

The strategy presented by the EC "sets a clear, long-term vision to achieve defence industrial readiness in the European Union", it added.

According to the strategy, EU member states are expected to procure at least 40 per cent of defence equipment in a collaborative manner by 2030, to ensure that the value of intra-EU defence trade represents at least 35 per cent of the value of the EU defence market by 2030, and to make steady progress towards procuring at least 50 per cent of their defence procurement budget within the EU by 2030 and 60 per cent by 2035.

"With the return of high-intensity conflict on our continent, Europe cannot wait any longer to strengthen the European defence technological and industrial base's ability to produce more and faster," said Thierry Breton, European commissioner for the internal market.

As a means to deliver the strategy, the EC also tabled on Tuesday a legislative proposal for a European Defence Industry Programme and a framework of measures to ensure the timely availability and supply of defence products, Xinhua news agency reported.

The EC said that the program will mobilize 1.5 billion euros (about $1.63 billion) of the EU budget over the period 2025-2027, to continue enhancing the competitiveness of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base.