The European Parliament has adopted the report on the European Defence Fund (EDF). The Commission’s proposal on the EDF means that the EU’s budget funding is increased from around €600 million under the current budget to €8 billion for the next. This will make the EU one of the continent’s biggest investors in military research.
The Greens/EFA Group wants a strong, modern and common European security and defence policy that is human-rights based, transparent, and accountable to the Parliament. The EDF has a very weak ethics mechanism, no transparency features and the European Parliament has no control over implementation for the next seven years. The EDF risks exacerbating inefficiency in the sector, the duplication of projects, and more defence industrial overcapacities which drive harmful European arms exports. The Greens/EFA advocate for an alternative model which would rely on pooled national budgets, and addresses not only joint research and development but also acquisition, maintenance, training and security of supply.