The international order is changing in a way we haven't seen since World War II, emphasizes EU's Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas at a press conference in Brussels.
Wednesday's presentation mainly contains details for "Strengthening the EU" – the plan that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined two weeks ago.
Among other things, it includes the new EU fund Safe – Security Action for Europe (Security Plan for Europe) – where 150 billion euros will be borrowed jointly by the EU to then be lent to willing EU countries.
Tough negotiations will likely be required before the parts of the plan can become a reality. For example, there are different opinions on which defense industries in which countries the EU countries should be able to order from, in order to gain access to the extensive support.
The basic idea is that the Safe funds should be able to be used for purchases from EU-based operations where at least 65 percent of the content comes from the EU. In parallel, there are requirements for advanced systems that everything should be able to be produced within the EU, if delivery of any part from outside cannot be made for various reasons.
The EU Commission sees seven types of weapons and capabilities that can be supported with joint procurement through the new support fund Safe:
* air defense
* artillery systems
* robots and ammunition
* drones and anti-drone systems
* "strategic enablers" – for example, for air refueling
* military mobility
* cyber, AI, and electronic warfare
Source: EU Commission
