Christian de Boissieu, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Chair in Defence Economics - IHEDN, has published an article on European defence industrial policy in Les Echos from 29 December 2020.
The Covid-19 crisis demonstrates the importance of the objective of strategic autonomy for European countries. Controlling some of the most decisive industrial value chains is essential if Europeans are to control their future, particularly in defence," writes Christian de Boissieu.
If the concept strategic autonomy was validated in the 2016 Global Strategy for the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy (EUFSP), it remains to define its contours together. This approach will benefit from the «strategic compass» process recently launched by the German Presidency of the EU, which will make it possible to define the EU's strategic priorities. the link between security issues and capability requirements. France has a clear role to play here, as the preparatory work on this compass will be completed under its Presidency in 2022.
Once the direction has been established, European countries will be able to realise the full potential of the European Defence Fund (EDF) , which comes into force in 2021. For the first time on a large scale, the European Union will co-finance the research and development of armaments programmes. Admittedly, the Fedef budget is limited to €8 billion over seven years, but it will make it possible to meet the equipment needs identified jointly by the Member States, particularly in the context of «permanent structured cooperation».
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