Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Euronews
Euronews
Maïa de La Baume

Defence Commissioner Kubilius on €800 defence package - Radio Schuman

The EU is exploring new and bold strategies to strengthen its defence sector. Relaxing strict fiscal rules to boost defence spending, accessing what is known as the SAFE instrument to raise capital, and expanding the European Investment Bank’s mandate to support military projects are some of the proposals to member states developed in the EU’s White Paper on Defence.

At the EU summit in Brussels last week, the EU leaders discussed the commission’s proposal for the member states to allocate amounts as high as €800 billion in defence spending over the next four years to strengthen Europe's defence infrastructure.

“When the war comes, you need to have your industry developed on high level in order to maintain, to repair and to produce new weapons,” says the EU’s defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius regarding the proposed increase in the defence budgets, “Now our industry really demands much more for European investment in order to develop our industry like a strategic asset.”

Kubilius also doubted Europe's readiness for Eurobonds and emphasised developing military mobility infrastructure.

Radio Schuman also looks at an important deadline today in the EU’s investigations into Apple, Meta and Alphabet on whether they violated the Digital Markets Act, and also at some experimental attempts to curb irregular migration through Artificial Intelligence.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with audio editing by David Brodheim. Music by Alexandre Jas

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.