Spending more on common defense recommends Wolfgang Schäuble
(B2) In an interview with the Bild am Sonntag, published this Sunday (27 December), Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Minister of Finance (CDU) considered that the refugee crisis required both increased defense spending and strengthen the common European security policy while waiting to form a European army. « We are going to have to spend a lot more money on common European defense initiatives underlines Schäuble (*).
When a finance minister says spend more, it's worth it
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This is all the more interesting since until now the German Finance Minister has not positioned himself with the idea of spending more but rather of containing spending. To tell the truth, it is even the first time that an incumbent finance minister has called for more spending on defence. Usually this statement emanated more from certain Ministers of Defense (or even of the Interior), thus clearly positioning themselves in the tradition of their departments (spenders) and united by a certain solidarity in the face of the offensives of their Ministries of Finance ( by tradition thrifty) to cut back on their expenses.
Ineffective military spending with 28 armies
The foreign and security policy of EU member states must be strengthened step by step “says the Minister of Finance. " Ultimately, our goal must be a common European army. The resources we devote to 28 national armies could be used much more effectively together » he underlines.
An imperative: stabilizing the Middle East and Africa, impossible without a stronger commitment from Europe
For Schäuble, the refugee crisis means a greater strengthening of the European Union in the regions in crisis. " For Germany, this means that we have to invest more heavily in foreign and security policy, than perhaps we have done so far. ". " We cannot stabilize the Near and Middle East without a stronger European commitment. And it's the same for Africa ».
Comment: the subject is interesting. And coming from a great treasurer of a great state, all the more to note. However, Wolfgang Schäuble does not specify how the States will be able to spend more, with narrow budgetary margins, if not effectively to merge defense spending. This would force, in this case, the governments to make a 'leap' of European integration. This does not yet seem to be felt as a necessity in most Member States.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
(*) Text translated by us
I believed in it from the age of 18 in 1960, despite the refusal of the communists and allied Gaullists for the occasion to nip this project in the bud in 1954. My father-in-law, chief of staff of the FFA in this era unsuccessfully tried to have common ammunition and a joint procurement policy for all NATO countries and never succeeded during its active period. I also founded a lot of hopes at the time of the creation of the Franco-German brigade, thinking then that many European countries would join it.
If it takes a serious crisis for national selfishness to fade a bit, then maybe we will finally have the beginning of a process that will probably take another 50 years to materialize at least partially.
I will long be dead and buried.
Happy New Year 2016 anyway.