Defence Takes Center Stage for EU and MEPs

Members of the European Parliament are set to vote next week on the report for the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).

The EDIP aims to strengthen the integration of the European defence industry and serve as a foundational pillar for building a common European defence capability.

With the war in Ukraine still raging and concerns over the future scale of U.S. support for Europe’s security, defence issues have rapidly climbed the political agenda.

The programme is designed to enhance the European Union’s preparedness to deter threats to its security and to ensure that European industries can independently supply the needs of its armed forces.

The report will be voted on by members of the European Parliament Committee on Security and Defence.

Meanwhile, a leading defence expert has commented on the United Kingdom’s shifting defence posture.

“[The UK has] neither the financial nor the political and diplomatic clout it once had.”

Professor Paul Cornish of the University of Exeter made the remarks amid the release of the UK’s Strategic Defence Review. A defence expert, Cornish emphasized the need to rethink the role of armed forces in response to the realities of today’s global challenges.

“It is essential that our long-held notions about the purpose and value of our armed forces are tested against the contemporary world, and the one likely to emerge from the battlefields of the 2020s.”

“Different terms of reference are now needed, changing UK defence language and mindset from inputs – the percentage of national income allocated to defence – to output.”

According to Cornish, an

“output-oriented approach would be fundamentally strategic rather than economic.”

This would focus on

“the practical matter of developing and maintaining militarily capable and credible armed forces,”

and include considerations of

“the geographical environments in which UK armed forces might be operationally committed and the allies with whom they will co-operate.”

He added,

“The UK has neither the financial nor the political and diplomatic clout it once had. The UK’s strategic outlook must, necessarily, be more constrained. But it can also be cleverer.

There is a critical need for both coherent and complementary sea and land capabilities to meet crisis and conflict in years to come. Both naval and land power, as well as air, cyber and space power, are required.

Security policy should prioritise deterrence and NATO. If the UK cannot afford a balanced set of military capabilities then the SDR must produce a strategic outlook that is, at least, honest. UK national strategy can no longer be based on legacy thinking; presumptions of success; a false interpretation of history (or indeed of current conflicts); a doctrine of technological supremacy; or unproven arguments.”

In related EU developments, Member States will soon be able to invest more flexibly in critical skills for Europe’s strategic sectors — such as the defence industry, green transition, automotive, and regions impacted by the war in Ukraine — following new amendments proposed by the European Commission.

Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, stated:

“Exceptional times require smarter, faster support for workers. With these proposals, we are giving Member States more flexibility to invest in skills where they are most needed. This is crucial for making Europe’s economy more competitive, resilient and socially inclusive.”