Rearming Europe: Von der Leyen's multibillion defence push

Ursula von der Leyen wrote to EU leaders, "A new era is upon us. Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us have seen in our adult lifetime." She emphasized that the future of a free and sovereign Ukraine and a secure and prosperous Europe is at stake. This, she noted, should shape the way decisions are made, the boldness of actions taken, and the urgency with which they are carried out in the coming days and weeks.

The President of the European Commission also called for Europe to take responsibility for its deterrence and defense. She introduced the ReArmy Europe plan, which aims to allocate approximately 1.2 trillion Canadian dollars to remilitarize Europe. The initiative is built on five key pillars, each designed to comprehensively enhance the continent’s defense capabilities.

The first pillar is the relaxation of EU spending rules, which will allow member states to manage defence budgets more flexibly without fear of breaching EU budget deficit limits. The second pillar is the introduction of a loan package worth 230 billion Canadian dollars. These funds will be used to purchase modern technologies and equipment, including air and missile defence, artillery systems, missiles and ammunition, drones, and anti-drone systems.

The third pillar allows for the use of cohesion policy funds from the EU budget for defence purposes. This will enable member states to allocate part of the funds originally planned for regional development to security and defence-related investments. The fourth pillar of the plan is the mobilization of private capital by accelerating the union of savings and investments.

The European Union plans to create favourable conditions for private investors to encourage their involvement in defence-related projects. Meanwhile, the fifth pillar involves utilizing the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance defence projects. The EIB is expected to play a key role in providing additional funds for the development of defence infrastructure and military technologies, thereby supporting the goals of the ReArmy Europe plan.

— The ReArmy Europe plan presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlights primarily the European Commission's determination to quickly strengthen European defence capabilities while maintaining military support for Ukraine. Von der Leyen's proposal was not accidental, as it coincided with announcements of the suspension of US military aid to Ukraine and partially responds to Donald Trump’s calls for allies to take greater responsibility for security in Europe — explains Aleksandra Kozioł.

The security analyst explains that the plan demonstrates that the European Union is becoming an actor playing an increasingly significant role in European security issues. — This role really increased in 2022. At that time, the EU responded in an unprecedented way to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, sending support to Ukraine in the form of military equipment, ammunition, and creating a training mission, thanks to which around 77,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained so far — she adds.

— The international situation forces us to move away from the idea of soft power. For years, essentially since the end of World War II, we’ve had the belief that no conventional conflict, no major war in Europe awaited us. We allowed ourselves to be seduced by the ideas of the end of history, globalization, international trade, which were supposed to replace all conflicts in the world. However, this Russian invasion has shown that issues of hard security and defence remain very important and therefore European states, as well as the European Union, must find a new footing in this situation and develop solutions that will allow us to realize the idea that was behind the founding of the European Union, namely the idea of peace in Europe — the expert summarizes.