By Wang Daning
According to foreign media reports, the European Defence Agency (EDA), under the European Commission, announced on November 19 that several European countries had agreed to jointly launch multiple weapons R&D projects to promote closer defence cooperation.
According to EDA, groups of European countries have signed letters of intent to develop four schemes, namely air and missile defence, electronic warfare, loitering munitions and next-generation warships. Among them, Germany, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and other countries signed up to cooperate on air defence. The EU's next-generation combat vessels will be put into service in batches in the 2040s.
Faced with warfare transformation as well as concerns that the US may reduce its security commitments to Europe, European countries have been steadily increasing their defence spending in recent years. The imminent return of Donald Trump as the US president has introduced greater uncertainty into US-European relations. The EU has called on its member states to change the way defense spending is allocated, advocating for joint development and procurement of weapons in order to achieve better cost-effectiveness and reduce fragmentation in the European defense market.
For a long time, due to internal divisions and external interference from the US, the progress of the EU defense integration has been relatively slow. Although the EU launched the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) mechanism in 2017 and established the European Defence Fund to finance multinational defense projects, the results have been underwhelming. The fragmentation and disorderly development of the defense industries among EU member states have only intensified. After conflicts erupted in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the EU began to accelerate its efforts toward defense integration and autonomy.
In October 2023, the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Establishing an Instrument for the European Defence Industry through Common Procurement (EDIRPA) came into force, urging member states to ensure that at least 65% of purchased products and their components come from within the EU. In March of this year, the EU released a package plan for the European defence industry, which includes the European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS) and the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). These documents outline a long-term vision and specific implementation measures aimed at strengthening and integrating Europe's defence technology and industrial base.
The newly launched cooperation projects mark the latest move in the EU's pursuit of defence integration, reflecting its determination to strengthen defence cooperation in critical areas and rapidly close the gap with international advanced standards. Taking the next-generation warships as an example, EU participating countries emphasized the need to focus on the significant changes in naval warfare dynamics, with designs that differ substantially from existing vessels. Meanwhile, specific performance indicators should also see significant improvements.
The EU's efforts to strengthen cooperation among member states in key defense areas are still constrained by various practical factors. EU member states often prioritize their own national security needs and industrial interests in defense matters, which in turn affects the allocation and utilization of resources. This is also a key reason for the delayed progress of some projects under the framework of the PESCO mechanism. Governments of member states also need to balance the expectations of domestic voters for social welfare spending with the collective defense goals of the EU. More importantly, the US remains wary of the independent tendency of European military-industrial supply chains, and has repeatedly intervened in such developments.
