The EU heads of state and government want to focus on defense and the economy in the coming years. Germany and France were unable to push through several demands.
According to the will of its heads of state and government, the European Union should focus more on defense and the economy in the coming years. “Together, we will invest significantly more and better,” says the so-called Strategic Agenda, which was adopted at the EU summit on Thursday.
The aim is to make Europe less dependent in military matters and to significantly strengthen its arms industry. EU Council President Charles Michel spent months talking to heads of state and government to prepare the paper. It outlines the EU’s direction for the next five years.
Germany and France actually wanted to push through several changes, but were unable to prevail against the resistance of numerous other countries. According to an EU diplomat, the demands of Berlin and Paris were “far too ambitious”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described the agenda as not very ambitious. Germany could have imagined more on the issues of competitiveness and climate protection, among others. He did not accept joint debt, so-called Eurobonds, to finance armaments and the refinancing of national defense budgets from the European Union budget, Scholz stressed.
The text states, among other things, that access to public and private money should be improved and “all options” should be explored. The European Investment Bank is also being brought into play for this. The bank recently announced that it would expand its involvement in the areas of security and defense. If the development bank is also to invest in pure defense projects, however, the 27 member states would have to agree on a change in the mandate.
According to the agenda, European armies should be better coordinated in the future. EU states currently use numerous different models of armoured vehicles, weapons and other equipment. Standardisation could save costs and effort in many areas.
When it comes to the economy, the main fear is that we will be left behind. The coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have painfully demonstrated how dependent the EU is on functioning supply chains and cheap energy. The union has to import many of the raw materials needed for electric cars and wind turbines, for example, almost entirely from individual third countries. Sensitive sectors and key technologies such as space travel, artificial intelligence, microchips and pharmaceuticals are therefore to be expanded.
The EU also wants to prepare to accept new members in the coming years. Accession talks are currently underway with Ukraine, among others. The issue of migration will also receive increasing attention from the union in the coming years. The text also states: “Our values are our strength.” Freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights are to be protected and promoted.
This means that the fight against climate change will probably no longer receive the attention it received during the last legislative period. However, the document stresses at several points that the government will continue to fight climate change.
