WHAT FUTURE EUROPEAN DEFENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL INDUSTRIAL BASIS (EDTIB) DO WE WANT/NEED?

But what about the case of Romania, a country which is close to the front lines? Due to the urgency of the situation, what short and longer-term lessons should the EU and Member States like Romania draw for the bloc’s future defence industry and market? Romania’s Defence Technological and Industrial Base (DTIB) has a long history, dating back to the early twentieth century. [...] ROMANIA’S DEFENCE INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY Post-1989, Romania’s national defence industry largely became clustered3 around ROMARM4 - a Romanian state-owned defence company under the authority of the Ministry of Economy - and ROMTEHNICA5 - a company trading on both domestic and external markets the goods under the administration of the Romanian Ministry of National Defence, as well as exports products s. [...] The main reason for the low level of retention by domestic beneficiaries is accounted for by the low technological level of the military equipment produced by the industry. [...] The repercussions of these strategic choices, cumulated with the defence industrial strategies adopted by Member States, and their approach to EU Defence Initiatives such as PESCO and the EDF could hold far-reaching implications for the EDTIB in the medium and long term. [...] Moreover, when it comes to Romania, the country should keep up the momentum and the recent strides made in revitalising its DTIB, by bolstering investments in defence research and development and encouraging foreign and European participation in the sector.