European Union members need to “spend more, spend better, and spend together” on defence and security, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said.
The European Union had to find funds for a “surge” in defence spending, which would require both public and private financing, the head of the EU’s powerful executive arm said.
Speaking in Poland, Dr von der Leyen said the EU was heading into a “new era” of defence policy, in light of the war in Ukraine. “Since Russia brought war back to the European continent, security lies at the heart of everything we do,” she said.
Recent incidents where Russia was suspected of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea proved that “every piece of infrastructure” was a potential target, she said.
“We have to spend more, we have to spend better, we have to spend together,” the German politician said. “If we spend billions of taxpayers' money on defence, we need a return on investment, in the form of more know-how and better jobs here in Europe.”
Dr von der Leyen indicated the commission would show flexibility, to give countries “more space” in their national budgets to spend money on defence.
Several states have been asking for EU fiscal rules – aimed at keeping budget deficits within certain limits – to be loosened, so that defence spending is exempt.
Maintaining the open flow of trade between Europe and the United States is “simply smart business”, the commission president said.
European capitals are on high alert in anticipation of US president Donald Trump levying tariffs on goods coming from the EU into the US.
[ Donald Trump remains besotted with tariffs and Europe is nextOpens in new window ]
Dr von der Leyen said the EU was prepared if Mr Trump put tariffs on trade. “When it comes to targeted, unfair, arbitrary responses, the European Union will respond firmly,” she said.
“Tariffs as we all know, they raise business costs, they harm workers, they harm consumers because the prices go up, they create unnecessary economic disruption, so it comes at a cost for both sides,” she said.
The EU’s preference was to deepen economic ties across the Atlantic, she said. “We are always open for business, we think we should intensify the co-operation that we have between the European Union and the United States, but we will also be very firm on our principles,” she said.
“There are jobs, businesses, industries here and in the United States that rely on the transatlantic trade partnership ... We want to keep the transatlantic trade partnership strong,” she said.
Dr von der Leyen said the commission was preparing a plan to “cut red tape”, paring back existing EU regulations on companies to make doing business in Europe “faster and easier”.
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