Amidst significant geopolitical uncertainty and threats, MEPs are set to call for decisive action to strengthen and protect the international rules-based order. EP Plenary holds a joint debate on how to strengthen European security and defence with the Council and Commission. In the draft report on the implementation of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy for 2023, MEPs urge the EU to develop robust strategic alliances, to accelerate EU enlargement and reform decision-making processes in response to a new geopolitical context. Parliament also assesses the implementation of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy report in the context of a rapidly deteriorating global security environment. Both reports will be put to a vote on Wednesday. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

common security and defence policy (T)

Security and defence (T2)

joint debate

VON DER LEYEN, Ursula (DE, EC)

foreign affairs and security policy (T)

MICHEL, Mathieu (BE)

Joint Debate - European Security and Defence: opening statement by Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, and Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, Thank you, Madam President of the European Parliament, Madame President of the European Commission. Honourable Members of the European Parliament. 2023 was a very challenging year. The international system continues to face multiple and overlapping challenges. We face two wars on our doorstep, while climate, food and energy crisis, both threats to global peace and security, hamper global governance and slow down sustainable development.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, This forces us to fundamentally rethink our Union. Two issues are our urgent priorities. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and the world that has flared up once again in the Middle East. In the current geopolitical context, security and defence must be the top priority of Europeans. Two years ago, the Strategic Compass was proposed and launched. At that time, nobody paid a lot of attention. No need to strengthen our defence at EU level has become obvious to everybody. Russia's invasion of Ukraine marks a watershed moment in European defence. Within weeks, dogmas that is true for decades were overturned.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, First, the European Peace Facility was used to incentivise Member States to give more military equipment to Ukraine. Never before had the EU financed the delivery of military equipment to a country at war. So far, the EU and Member States have mobilised more than €28 billion of military assistance. Later, the largest military mission in the EU's history was launched to train the Ukrainian army. By the end of this summer, 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers will have been trained on EU soil. The training they receive is what Russia's new recruits often lack. It significantly increases their chances of survival.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, But the Russian war of aggression has also highlighted the significant weaknesses resulting from 30 years of neglect in defence capacities. The weaknesses exist in terms of material, but also in terms of into ability. Today, defence budgets are 40% higher than a decade ago, but we still have a long way to go and we all need to accelerate. We are not going to be able to play a geopolitical role if you are not able to defend ourselves.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, Defence is a national competence. It is the Member States that have armies. We must be able to mobilise our armies to face common threats. We have to make them work together better in order to have more interoperability, more mobility capacity together, and more coordination. We need to spend better, but spending more does not automatically mean spending better. To get the best results, we need economies of skills to improve production. The European defence industry needs certainty of long term demand. This idea is at the heart of ammunition initiative. We need to aggregate Member States demands, procure urgently and support European industry in ramping up their production capacity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, Through the European Defence Agency, we have put in place 60 framework contracts to police all those to the European defence industry. We must follow this example in other areas, together with European Defence Agency, EU Ministers of Defence have already identified the key  capabilities they need, ranging from ground combat capabilities to an integrated air and missile defence to underwater warfare capabilities, space services, cyber defence or other strategic enablers. All this, a stronger EU defence with Member States spending more and better together, will also help strengthen NATO.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, Through the Strategic Compass, we are also working to make our armies more interoperable and an EU operational engagement more effective. If evacuations such as in Afghanistan and Sudan, have shown that EU Member States often depend on outside help to protect and evacuate their citizens. We need the capacity to act with partners where possible, but also alone if needed. By 2025, we will have a webpage deployment capacity allowing us to quickly deploy up to 5000 troops in response to crisis situation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, As part of this work, we conducted last October, the first live EU military exercise in Cadiz in Spain. Interoperability is also key for our CSDP mission. In this more and more volatile world, they are increasingly important to protect European security interests abroad and contribute to global and regional stability. We are already working closely together in the context of our Common Security and Defence Policy missions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, Since the beginning of this legislative mandate, the EU has launched seven civilian and military missions, including last week, a new maritime security operation, Aspides in the Red Sea. Through Aspides, ATALANTA and our coordinated maritime present, we are showing that the EU can act decisively when our maritime security is at risk. The other examples of our concrete operational engagement and not only military. The civilian missions launched last year in Armenia. It contributes to stability along the border with Azerbaijan, or in Moldova to strengthen their resilience against hybrid threats.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mathieu MICHEL, Belgian State Secretary for Digitisation, Russia's against war Ukraine s reminded us how critical traditional military capabilities like tanks, artillery or ammunition remains, but also how much cyber and critical infrastructure, as well as information manipulation, have changed the threat landscape. In the past two years, we have seen progress in building capacities in all of those areas. But we can do more. If we want to be a geopolitical player, we need to have the means and the means start by having a strong defence capacity and a strong defence industry. Thank you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Madam President, Mr. State Secretary, Honourable Members. In the last years, many European illusions have been shattered. The illusion that peace is permanent, the illusion that economic prosperity might matter more to Putin than destroying a free and democratic Ukraine. The illusion that Europe on its own was doing enough on security, be it economic or military, conventional or cyber.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, As we look around us, it is clear there is no room for any more illusions. Putin used the peace dividend to prepare for this war. As a result, the world is as dangerous as it has been for generations. Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine is now in its third year and is more entrenched and intense than ever.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We are seeing the potency and the dangers of a rising and disturbing league of authoritarians. North Korea is delivering order after order of ammunition shells to Russia, and Iran is providing attack drones, and crucially, also the technology behind them to inflict untold damage on Ukrainian cities and citizens.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, The continuing war in Gaza and the large scale destabilisation of the Middle East point to an era of insecurity and conflict in the region and beyond. And we are also seeing the continued rise of aggressive economic competition and distortion, which brings with it some very real European security risks. So to put it as bluntly as outgoing President Niinistö of Finland did last month, Europe has to wake up, and I would add urgently.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, 'We all know there is so much at stake here, our freedom and our prosperity, and we have to start acting like it. We need to start working on the future of the European security architecture, in all of its dimensions, and with all of the speed and political will that is required, because the truth is we have not been living with conflict merely since 2022, but for far longer. The threats to our security and prosperity and our way of life come in many different forms, and we all know them. Some of them are obvious. Some of them are hazier on the surface. We are tackling political interference, reducing our dangerous dependency, a policy that I've called de-risking, albeit eliminating hostile actors from our critical infrastructure.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We Europeans must be on guard. This is not just about defeating bullies on the battlefield, but across all our societies. The good news is we have started a lot of that work already. In fact, the last years have not only served to shatter some European illusions, but they have also shattered many illusions about Europe. That our unity would not hold in the face of a war on our continent, or that our rules and divisions would hold us back in providing massive financial, military and political support. Well, over the last two years, Europe has shown and proven that it will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. And we have also shown and proven that a more sovereign Europe is not just wishful thinking.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And at this point, let me be very clear. European sovereignty will make our partnerships stronger. It will never affect the importance and the need for our NATO alliance. In fact, a more sovereign Europe, in particular on defence, is vital to strengthening NATO. And that is why I am pleased with the news that Sweden will soon become NATO's ally. And I want to congratulate Sweden under the leadership of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the historic step for this country.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, At its core, European sovereignty is about taking responsibility ourselves for what is vital and even existential for us. It is about our ability, but also about our willingness to defend our interests and values ourselves. And this is what leaders agreed with the Versailles agenda just after the start of the war, to reduce our strategic dependencies in critical areas like energy, like key technologies, you remember the semiconductors, economic capacities, and of course, defence.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Member States have stepped up. Just last week, the naval mission Aspides was launched to protect against the direct threat to the freedom of navigation. Freedom of navigation that serves as a bedrock of global trade in one of the world's most critical waterways. And Member States have stepped up their defence spending too. National defence budgets have already risen by 20% from last year, and NATO has just announced that it expects 18 of its members to beat the 2% defence spending target this year. That is up from only three members a decade ago and together we are now spending more jointly on common capacities and projects between Europeans.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, 'The European Peace Facility has mobilised €6.1 billion to support the Ukrainian armed forces with lethal and non-lethal military equipment and supplies. The European Defence Fund is investing in high end defence capabilities in critical areas, such as naval, ground or air combat, space-based early warning systems or cyber. And we have taken big steps forward in growing our defence, industrial and manufacturing capacities. In the next weeks we will announce decisions under the ASAP programme, and this funding will enable us to roughly double European ammunition production to over 2 million shells a year by the end of 2025.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable Members. All of this progress shows that Europe has started to grasp the urgency and the scale of the challenge that is ahead of us. But there is a lot more to do, and we need to move fast. The threat of war may not be imminent, but it is not impossible. And the risks of war should not be overblown, but they should be prepared for. And that starts with the urgent need to rebuild, replenish and modernise Member States' armed forces. And in doing so, Europe should strive to develop and manufacture the next generation of battle winning operational capabilities and to ensure it has sufficient quantity of material and the technological superiority that we may need in the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, That means turbocharging our defence industrial capacity in the next five years. At the heart of this must be a simple principle. Europe must spend more, spend better, spent European. We will put forward some proposals in the next weeks with the first ever European Industrial Defence Strategy. One of the central aims of the strategy, and the European Defence Investment Programme that will come with it, will be to prioritise defence joint procurement, just as we did it very successfully with the vaccines, and for example, with natural gas. And this will help us reduce fragmentation and increase interoperability.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, But to do this, we must collectively send a strong signal to industry, and this is why we will look at how to facilitate, for example, offtake agreements. They need security and the knowledge that the products will be taken off. For example, advance purchase agreements where we provide guarantees. This would give our defence industry companies very stable orders and most importantly, predictability in the long run.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, We will increase support for industrial ramp up as we are now doing with the ammunition with ASAP. We will identify European defence projects of common interest to focus efforts and resources. What has been which has the biggest impact and added value. And we will focus on innovation to ensure Europe has that edge in the new technologies, which we see being deployed across the world in different continents.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, This must be a truly European effort and that is why I am proud to announce that we will set up an Office for Defence Innovation in Kiev. This will bring Ukraine ever closer to Europe, and it will enable all Member States to draw on Ukraine's battlefield experience and expertise and industrial defence innovation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable Members. Making this step together on defence will not be easy. It will require bold decisions and political courage, and it will require, above all, a new European defence mindset from institutions to industries to investors. That is why I am very encouraged by the words of President Calviño that the EIB is ready to do more to contribute to joint projects that boost the European defence industry. And I really call now on Member States to endorse this proposal. Defence industry in Europe needs access to capital.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, I would like to encourage our public and private lenders to support our defence industry, and in particular small and medium enterprises. Also in defence, small and medium enterprises are the backbone of our industry. They are the driver of innovation and a critical factor in the single market. And the topic needs undivided attention. And this is why I'm personally supportive of a designated Defence Commissioner for the next Commission.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, And beyond that, I would like us to think bigger. It is time to start a conversation about using the windfall profits of frozen Russian assets to jointly purchase military equipment for Ukraine. There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ursula VON DER LEYEN, President of the European Commission, Honourable Members. Ultimately, this is about Europe taking responsibility for its own security. The simple truth is we do not have the luxury of comfort. We do not have the control of elections or decisions in other parts of the world. We simply do not have the time to skirt around the issue with or without the support of our partners. We cannot let Russia win. And the cost of insecurity, the cost of a Russian victory, is far greater than any saving we could make now. And this is why it is time for Europe to step up. Long live Europe.