The Commission recently presented a proposal for an Ammunition Production Assistance Regulation (ASAP). The aim is to ensure that the EU can ramp up production capacities for ammunition and missiles more quickly in order to better support the Ukrainian armed forces. A total of €500 million is to be made available from the EU budget for this purpose, which means that this measure will be financed through taxpayers’ money.
As Greens/EFA, we stand behind the Commission’s plan – the delivery of ammunition to Ukraine must take place as soon as possible. And there is also no question that we need to step up EU efforts to produce ammunition faster. But I wonder: Why we should turn ASAP into a money machine for an already profitable defence sector?
Thus, if we give extra money to the defence industry to increase ammunition production, the resulting profits should be returned to the taxpayers by linking the ASAP programme to a tax on surplus profits. More in my speech:
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