Last week, we reached an agreement with the Council on the Defence Omnibus. Unfortunately, the negotiations once again made one thing clear: the Member States stand in the way of key progress and concrete action at European level. Important elements were deferred to future legislative negotiations. Therefore, the outcome of the trilogue negotiations falls far short of what we consider necessary in the Parliament.
The Defence Omnibus is a proposal by the European Commission intended to simplify and speed up rules and procedures in the defence sector. Specifically, it concerns authorisations for defence projects, simplified intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and European defence procurement among other things. This was precisely where there was a real opportunity to advance the European single market for defence: through more joint procurement and harmonised rules. Yet, these are exactly the areas in which the Council blocked progress.
The Parliament and the Commission understand that Europe needs to act quickly. That is why we are reluctantly accepting this compromise. But we must be honest: this is not the level of ambition we need to make Europe safer and put our industry on a more competitive footing. National protectionist reflexes come at a price. They weaken our collective security, delay urgently needed capabilities and ultimately make Europe not stronger, but more vulnerable.
Heads of state and government often talk about European sovereignty and genuinely European defence. They call for European solutions, yet, deny Europe the means to put them into practice. They then return home and complain that the EU is too weak to solve these problems. We no longer have time for these games.
We are now awaiting the Commission’s further proposals and will continue to push for Europe to finally become more integrated in the field of defence. We need a genuine single market for defence, more joint procurement and far more harmonised rules. Only then can we act more quickly, strengthen our industry and build the capabilities Europe urgently needs for its security.
More on this in my joint press release with the Greens/EFA Group.
