The European Defense industry lags behind other leading actors, including Russia. The European Commission highlights in the draft of the military white paper to be presented next Wednesday, that "although some EU Defense companies are globally competitive, the overall industrial base has structural deficiencies."
Currently, the European Defense industry "is not capable of producing the systems and equipment in the quantities and speed needed by the Member States," the document emphasizes, presenting Brussels' plan to address this issue.
To begin with, it advocates leveraging Ukraine's extensive experience and integrating its industry into the European one. Additionally, it proposes embracing what Brussels terms as "collaborative dividend," aiming to reduce bureaucracy, facilitate company activities, not only train specialized workers in highly technological fields but also attract them.
"Ukraine has a very innovative and prosperous Defense industry, with significant experience in sectors such as AI and drones. The positive attitude and entrepreneurial spirit of young and dynamic Ukrainian companies can significantly boost European competitiveness," the document states.
"Ukraine is leveraging frontline experience to continuously adapt and enhance its equipment, to the extent that it has become a leading country in technological innovation. Closer cooperation between Ukrainian and European industries would allow for first-hand knowledge transfer," the text emphasizes on the need to integrate all advancements from the country invaded by Russia.
The Commission also proposes "eliminating obstacles to product circulation"; "ensuring the supply of critical goods for the industry and reducing dependencies"; or simplifying the regulations faced by the European industry, a measure that Brussels aims to implement not only in Defense but across the economy to boost competitiveness and growth. It also stresses the importance of seizing "the collaboration dividend."
"Member States are responsible for their armed forces, from doctrine development to deployment. However, the radically changed strategic context, combined with the significant deficiencies in Member States' capabilities, requires much more collaboration among them to rebuild their defenses. It also demands much more support from the EU. Lack of collaboration has led to inefficiencies in defense capability development and imposed additional costs on all Member States," the white paper points out.
The Niinisto report, the Security document commissioned by Brussels to the former Prime Minister of Finland, "calls for the unequivocal commitment of States to plan, invest, and operate together as Europeans." The Draghi report argues that "defense equipment acquisition is fragmented and inefficient, with inconsistent collaboration efforts across the EU." "Member States have limited bargaining power when acquiring defense equipment from non-EU countries, resulting in higher unit prices," the text elaborates.
In the final sections dedicated to the European Defense industry, Ursula von der Leyen's Executive addresses a key issue: talent and training. "Although the European Defense sector has skilled and specialized employees, large-scale industrial Defense acceleration will require the industry to find, train, employ, and retain enough engineers and specialized experts," the text states.