The Union is going shopping. The river of money will sail to the Shield of the East and the armory

Michał Gostkiewicz

The river of money will flow to European arms companies, according to the "white book" on EU defence. The paper allows people from outside the Union to join their purchases and lists the Polish Shield of the East as a task “notable”.

EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius and head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas presented a alleged white paper on European Defence in Brussels. The paper straight refers to the Shield of the East – Donald Tusk's initiative, which assumes strengthening and crucial investment in protecting the east EU border, including the Polish-Belarusian border.

“White Paper” on the Shield East: “notable”

The Shield East paper identifies it as the only task of this kind, identifying it as a “notable venture of many associate States”. It was besides stressed that "the defence of all EU land, air and sea borders is crucial, especially in the context of the east border of the Union".

– In fact, it is simply a line of defence across the European Union. We fought for this evidence as a full Polish delegation – said Euro MP Andrzej Halicki (EPP). In his opinion, without the fresh European Parliament resolution, which besides mentions the Shield, "it would most likely not have been the provision confirming the project's priority".

– Many people had doubts about this initiative, and the leaders of Law and Justice even claimed that it should be opposed," Halicki said.

Euro MP Michał Szczerba (EPP) added: "The first transfers to Tarcza East – 52 million EUR – have already been received from the European Commission to the Polish government. So far, the task has functioned as a national programme, but now we can talk about its communitation. Its foundation is the defence of the European Union.

Open gate for Ukraine

At the same time, the European Commission presented the financial package as part of the ReArm Europe plan developed by Ursula von der Leyen. This plan is intended to stimulate investment in the defence sector of the associate States.

– The White Paper is our proposal for joint action, and the ReMilitarisation package provides tools for financing this cooperation," said Kaja Kallas during the presentation of the document. She stressed that the EU had identified defence gaps and, in line with NATO guidelines, proposed ways to bridge them.

– This means rebuilding European ammunition, weapons and military equipment and ensuring their supply to Ukraine," Kallas said. She added that the EU should not only make defence systems for Ukraine but besides cooperate with Ukraine in its production.

The White Paper foresees this anticipation and 1 of its priorities is to deepen the integration of the European and Ukrainian defence industries.

Focus on buying from EU companies

The EU's safety Action For Europe (SAFE) plan foresees that the European Commission will rise up to EUR 150 billion to increase the defence capacity of associate States. These funds will be allocated according to national plans.

Within SAFE, joint procurement from the European defence manufacture will be a priority. Countries outside the EU, specified as EFTA, EEA and Ukraine, may join these purchases.

– It is crucial to guarantee that defence systems are available if necessary. This is 1 of the key criteria indicated in the White Paper," said Andrzej Halicki.

When asked by Deutsche Welle about the anticipation of more diversification of purchases in Poland, he stressed that they would be “in line with the NATO-based European safety structure and compatible with the Alliance's architecture”.

Commissioner Kubilius added: "450 million EU citizens should not trust on 340 million Americans to defend themselves against 140 million Russians who cannot defeat 38 million Ukrainians. We can truly do more.

What's next? Projects in May and June

The proposals of the White Paper will be addressed by the 2 closest summits of the EU Council – 21 March and 26 June. The European Commission plans to implement the paper quickly. The first projects are to take form in May and June.

RECORD