Europe aims at defense boost

The European Union aims to dramatically boost its defense capabilities amid growing concerns of a less reliable United States as the bloc's traditional security guarantor, according to a white paper released by the European Commission on Wednesday.

The commission said the white paper "Readiness 2030" is "an ambitious packaging providing financial levers to EU member states to drive an investment surge in defense capabilities".

"The era of the peace dividend is long gone. The security architecture that we relied on can no longer be taken for granted," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

"Europe is ready to step up. We must invest in defense, strengthen our capabilities, and take a proactive approach to security."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said for the past decades, the EU has not put a high enough price on defense.

"We must spend more," she said.

The white paper was released after von der Leyen proposed on March 4 to mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($870 billion) through 150 billion euros in EU-guaranteed loans and a relaxation of EU's fiscal rules to allow member states to spend more on defense.

The EU's dramatic shift came after US President Donald Trump's administration sent shock waves across the bloc by attacking trans-Atlantic relations — from security, trade, democracy, freedom of speech to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The EU strategy described the US as "traditionally a strong ally "but said the US "believes it is overcommitted in Europe and needs to rebalance, reducing its historical role as a primary security guarantor".

'Buy more European'

"We must buy more European. Because that means strengthening the European defense technological and industrial base," von der Leyen said.

A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released 10 days ago showed that European NATO members have become more dependent on US weapons than before. European arms imports from the US skyrocketed by 155 percent over the 2020-24 period compared with the 2015-19 period.

Under the current EU blueprint, defense companies from the US, the United Kingdom and Turkiye will be excluded from the loan plan unless those governments sign security agreements with the EU.

French President Emmanuel Macron has long pushed for buying more French and European defense equipment.

"Those who buy Patriot should be offered the new-generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35 should be offered the Rafale. That's the way to increase the rate of production," he told French media on Sunday.

EU leaders' meeting in Brussels for a summit on Thursday and Friday are expected to discuss the defense proposals, but also focus on other key issues such as the bloc's economic competitiveness, EU budget and irregular migration.

Juan Moscoso del Prado, a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, argued that the EU should help private companies become more competitive through defense technology-guided industrial policy.

"As the events of last month make alarmingly clear, Europeans are now operating in more hostile and unpredictable geopolitical environment," he wrote in a commentary on the council's website.

"The question of how they now defend themselves is more pressing than ever. Some aspects of this challenge can only be resolved over the long term. Enhancing the competitiveness and productivity of the European defense industry is one such aspect," he wrote.

Giuseppe Spatafora, a researcher at the EU Institute for Security Studies, agreed, saying on X that "while Europe can't cut its dependencies on the US overnight, it can mitigate risks by investing in strategic enablers".

"Wow, Japan and South Korea can participate, US and UK cannot," Joel Atkinson, a lecturer at Monash University in Australia who is now based in Seoul, South Korea, said on X, referring to the new EU defense strategy.