The European Commission announces that 18 countries have expressed interest in benefiting from loans of up to 127 billion euros through the “safe” instrument, to strengthen their defense capabilities.
The European Commission indicates that this demonstration of preliminary interest will make it possible to “prepare the collection of funds in capital markets.” However, countries must still submit formal applications, an open procedure until November 30.
The 18 interested countries are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Finland.
The “For Security For Europe – SAFE” program is part of the European Arsenal to promote joint armaments. This system plans to raise “up to 150 billion euros in capital markets”, to accelerate and facilitate defense investments.
“Safe” is integrated into the largest plan presented in March by the European Commission: Roarm Europe aims to increase defense expense, up to 800 billion euros, by 2030.
Support the European need … Faced with the American excavator
While the objective of priority is to support the European Defense Industry, in a logic of sovereignty and get rid of the most possible to depend on the US market, it is not certain that these measures are sufficient to enclose purchases to the equipment produced in Europe.
As the BFM Stock Exchange indicates, “it is likely that part of these new expenses will benefit from the United States.” The White House also indicates in its press release after the agreement signed with Europe that the latter “agreed to buy large amounts of US military teams,” without further details.
According to the International Peace Research Institute of Stockholm (SIPRI), US exports to Europe have more than tripled during the 2020-2024 period compared to the 2015-2019 period. The SIPRI specifies that it is the first time in two decades that most of the US weapons export is intended for Europe, which goes from 13% (2015-2019) to 35% (2020-2024).
However, analysts interviewed by CNBC indicate that recent ads will not be a measure to do reckless damage to the long -term European defense industry, which should continue to be the first beneficiary of the national budget orders, which will increase in the coming years, after the decisions taken during the NATO summit last June.
Adapt the industrial tool
Among the challenges faced by arms manufacturers, the adaptation of the production tool on request. A report published at the end of June by a subsidiary of the CAISSE des Dépôts pointed out the lack of means of the French industrial and technological database (BitD) to face the increase in needs, induced by the unprecedented increase of the budgets, which must bring defense expenses to 3.5% of the GDP and 1.5% of the “annexed” unprecedented GDP (infrastruct 3.5% of the GDP and 1.5% of the “annexed” GDP (infrastructs, etc.), etc.).
According to this document, the ILOD “is not calibrated to face such a scale jump”, a shared observation at European scale by one of the analysts questioned by CNBC, which states that “all expenses cannot be honored by European companies” and that a certain number of purchases will necessarily be made of US industrialists.
Source: BFM TV
