The European Commission wants to create a “single market for defence” to better prepare the European Union for times of crisis, according to a leaked document.
In it, the EC expressed concern that, in times of war, supply chains are likely to break down and that Member States now need to “weaponise” the EU’s single market to combat that.
“Any Member State’s security of supply strategy should increasingly integrate the EU dimension and better leverage one of the major strengths of the Union – the Single Market,” the document reportedly reads.
It also appears to ask for national governments to surrender more sovereignty to Brussels to enable the “Europeanisation of supply chains”, saying that “risks” of shortages in some areas “can be mitigated with a European level of governance”.
The document also reportedly adds that a “more integrated and competitive European defence equipment market would allow the European defence technological and industrial base to capitalise on economies of scale, enhancing the efficiency of its industrial organisations”.
Part of the new project will apparently include an analysis of military supply chains in the hope that any weak links could be strengthened, thus enabling the creation of an internally consistent EU emergency supply network.
This, the EC reportedly said, will aid in achieving “an effective Single Market for defence”.
Belgian's former Vice-Chief of Defence @general_marcT has claimed Belgium is not at all ready for armed conflict, saying that within hours of an attack its troops would be rendered unable to shoot back and would have to rely on “throwing stones”. https://t.co/jN0oj6U3oU
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 6, 2023
The EC’s new scheme appears to be the latest attempt to militarise the EU.
Although initially denied as a possibility, efforts to push towards the creation of a joint-EU army in particular appear to have accelerated in the wake of the UK leaving the bloc.
A recent report published by the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies noted that both Russia and China pose an increasing threat to European security.
It suggested it was possible that the EU could be left to fight Russia alone if a conflict broke out between the US and the bloc’s Communist neighbour.
“European democracy survived the 20th Century thanks to the United States but growing isolationism at home and competition from China abroad are causing Americans to question whether they will be able to support us in the 21st,” read the document released by the Wilfried Martens Centre, a European People’s Party think-tank.
“The risk of conflict in Asia, a return to isolationism, or the re-election of Donald Trump is too high for the EU not to develop a defence industrial and technological base (DITB) able to supply Europe’s defence on its own,” it added.
The report went on to state that such a DTIB would, in a worst-case scenario, allow Europe to survive an attack from Russia.
If such an invasion does not occur, it would also enable the EU to “strengthen the international community of democracies”, the think-tank argued.
Ukraine on Monday sacked two high-ranking cyber defence officials amid a probe into alleged embezzlement, a senior government official said. https://t.co/QK49VYHGGX
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 20, 2023
