The European Union should also look for resources in the current budget when financing programmes to strengthen its defence and military industry, some Czech MEPs argued yesterday at a European Parliament session.
During the session, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke about the possibility of borrowing up to 150 billion euros for defence programmes. Under Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, member states may receive loans to invest in defence backed by the EU budget, she said. She also mentioned that member states will be able to use part of the unused cohesion funds for defence.
However, some Czech MEPs reject the new defence spending.
MEP Ondrej Krutilek (ODS) said the EU should use its existing sources. “Let’s look for the money where it is, and then borrow if necessary, but it should definitely not be the first option,” he told reporters. He also mentioned Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s (ODS) proposal to use unused funds from the pandemic recovery plan for defence.
Another Czech MEP, Marketa Gregorova (Pirates), said the European Commission should look for resources within the existing budget and change the priorities. “The EU budget is already stretched,” she pointed out, adding that MEPs are now talking about adjustments to spending on agriculture, which is one of the biggest items in the EU budget. She also argued that the European Parliament should be able to effectively control how defence funding is spent.
“The European Commission wants to loosen the floodgates of debt, and we’re not entirely happy about it,” MEP Jaroslava Pokorna Jermanova (ANO) told CTK. “Excessive arms production will have an inflationary effect on national economies,” she said.
Pokorna Jermanova supports the strengthening of cooperation within NATO, and said that reinforcement of defence capabilities should be carried out at the level of individual states. She added that the involvement of the European Investment Bank in defence projects is the right step.
Czech MEP Katerina Konecna (Communist) rejected the Commission’s plans, which she said would put the next several generations in debt. She said that higher defence spending could translate into a deterioration in the quality of education, health care and infrastructure.
“Money is not the most important thing,” Czech MEP Ludek Niedermayer (TOP 09) told reporters. He said it was unfortunate that the debate on strengthening defence capabilities had started with a debate on finances. He added that it was essential for the EU to have a clear and comprehensible foreign policy and to support joint projects. “Creating air defence or electronic defence would be much more effective at the EU level,” Niedermayer said.
Czech MEPs are cautious about demands that EU states should have a preference to purchase weapons and military technology from Europe, as proposed by France and others.
“Europe must strengthen not only its security but also its military industrial base,” said MEP Alexandr Vondra (ODS). However, he said, too strong requirements could “tie Europe’s hands”, as it is unable to produce certain types of weapons and technology.
Yesterday, von der Leyen mentioned the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine as one of the successful projects of EU countries in the field of defence. She argued that EU countries could replicate this practice in joint purchasing.
After negotiations of EU finance ministers in Brussels yesterday, Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura (ODS) said an important question regarding joint defence loans by EU member states was who would guarantee these loans.
