Should we spend more on Defense? No answers the Commission

(BRUXELLES2) Ivo Daalder in his farewell speech as American ambassador to NATO addressed the Europeans on Monday, asking them to pull themselves together and invest in defence. He argued that American patience had limits and that the balance in NATO was threatened. In his line of sight in particular a small score of European States which spend less than 1,5% on their defense (To read detailed paper in the Club: Final warning to Europeans). I wanted to get to the bottom of it and sound out the European Commission's state of mind on this point today. The video is here.

What is interesting is that no one - on the spokespersons' bench - really rushed to come and assist the Commission spokesperson who was officiating on the podium this lunchtime, in particular the spokespersons for Lady Ashton (defense and representation at NATO is however in their "basket") to whom the spokesperson extended his hand did not really feel concerned.

Maximize effort rather than spend more

The answer, however, is interesting. " The European Commission is taking a close interest in European defense policy from another angle, ensuring from an industrial and public procurement point of view that we can move towards a European defense policy, including to reduce costs, to lower national budgets and maximize public efforts in politics. We have this constraint in mind. “The Commission seeks to ensure to the coherence of the defense policy” added the spokesperson when I returned to the charge for more details.

Beneath a seemingly formal and smooth exterior, this answer has the merit of being clear. The European Commission sends a polite but firm "no" to the American request. " It is not the moment "as a Commission source confirmed to me, " increase defense budgets and public budgets in general. " Instead, we recommend that certain countries - such as Greece - lower their defense budget ».

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)