European Commission demands EU defence companies increase arms production 50-fold

The European Union is facing a fundamental transformation of its defence industry. According to the European Commission's call, European arms companies need to significantly increase their production capacities to enable the continent to respond to the deteriorating security situation.

European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius said at a security forum in Madrid that defence sector output should increase up to 50-fold. He stressed the need to build new factories, introduce modern technology and recruit skilled workers. He said that member states must also ensure long-term and stable demand for weapons so that companies could have certainty of investment and could expand production rapidly.

As the Atlantic Council points out, after decades of relative calm, Europe was unprepared for long-term conflict and its defence capabilities proved inadequate. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, experts say, has exposed weaknesses in Europe's munitions supply and production chains.

The European Commission has therefore already launched specific programmes to support the defence industry. One of them is the ASAP initiative, which aims to significantly increase the production of artillery ammunition and to remove critical bottlenecks such as the shortage of gunpowder and explosives. In parallel, the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) is being developed to promote joint arms purchases and deeper cooperation between Member States.

However, according to Reuters, Europe's rapid rearmament is also raising concerns among some economists and regulators. They warn that massive state investment could strengthen the dominance of a few large arms companies and limit competition in the market, which could increase the price of military equipment in the future.

Ukraine is also to be involved in the new strategy. The European institutions want to link Ukrainian combat experience and technological innovation with the EU production base and create joint projects for weapons development and production.

According to security analysts, Europe is thus entering a period of the biggest defence buildup since the end of the Cold War. The aim is not only to continue to support Kiev, but above all to achieve greater strategic autonomy and the ability to ensure its own security without major dependence on non-European suppliers.

European defence policy is thus rapidly changing from an adjunct of foreign policy to one of its top priorities - and the pace of these changes suggests that the transformation of the European arms industry will continue in the years to come.

gnews.cz - GH