EU member states spend more on defence than on the EU budget. So if member states want to develop arms jointly, they should pool their national budgets. Unfortunately, 8 billion euros out of the EU budget will be given as subsidies to the arms industry, via the European Defence Fund (EDF).
Therefore, the least we can do now is to make sure that the weapons that will be developed with this money won’t end up with dictators. In my plenary speech, I called on the EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton to ensure this – because the Commission has a right to object to the export of weapons financed with EDF money.
What would be the best solution? An EU level arms export control system! More in my plenary speech:
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