French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu has warned that if the EU’s joint arms procurement program opens the door to weapon manufacturers from non-EU countries, it would be better not to develop the program at all.
Lecornu stated on Tuesday that France “will not move an inch” in supporting the European Union’s efforts to develop local defense companies in favor of European weapon manufacturers.
Otherwise, he added, it might be better to simply abandon the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP), which aims to allocate €1.5 billion to support the European Union’s arms producers and is currently under discussion in EU institutions.
Hungary, which chaired the EU Council last year, failed to reach agreement on EDIP, and now Poland will lead the negotiations between national delegations.
France is leading a group of countries that want the funds to be primarily reserved for European companies, with guarantees that would prevent non-EU companies from easily accessing the program.
Other countries, including the Netherlands and Poland, want the funds to go towards procuring and producing equipment from outside the EU, but manufactured under license on European soil—such as American Patriot air defense systems.
These capitals are interested in quickly acquiring ready-made weapons to strengthen their armed forces. They also want to use EU funds to produce foreign equipment locally: the Netherlands wants to manufacture the Patriot system under license, while Poland aims to jointly produce South Korean technology.
But France, which has the largest defense industry in the EU, seeks to ensure that the continent maintains its own military-industrial complex and does not become too reliant on Washington. For example, the American Patriot system directly competes with the Franco-Italian SAMP/T system from MBDA, as well as with the next generation of this system currently in development.
“The European Defense Industry Program is useful, but it should not lead to European taxpayers’ money being spent on the licensed production of American equipment,” said Lecornu.
