White paper on the future of European defence

In her political guidelines presented on 18 July 2024, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen identified defence as a priority and a key sector in completing the single market. An important part of that effort will be building a 'European Defence Union'. To frame the new approach and to identify defence investment needs, von der Leyen committed that the new Commission would present a white paper on the future of European defence within the first 100 days of taking office. Subsequently, the Commissioners designated to take on the High Representative/Vice President portfolio (Kaja Kallas, Estonia) and the portfolio for Defence and Space (Andrius Kubilius, Lithuania) have been tasked with producing the paper. The white paper is expected to predominantly address defence sector capability issues, industrial competitiveness and investment needs. It should also frame the overall approach to EU defence integration, with the aim of strengthening the EU's ability to respond to threats, particularly in the context of Russia's continuing aggression in Ukraine, combined with evolving geopolitical challenges to the south and increased military capabilities of other global actors. Among other things, the white paper should outline the path towards key initiatives such as a European air shield to bolster air defence across the continent and expanded cyber-defence capabilities; closer EU-NATO cooperation; more efficient EU Member State defence spending; the reduction of external dependencies in defence procurement; and increased intra-EU collaboration in industrial, innovation, procurement and production issues. Experts widely agree that a key challenge to address is how to increase financing for the defence industry with, inter alia, the provision of incentives for investors and the creation of economies of scale; a clear assessment of the EU's defence needs; and coordination among the many EU defence initiatives proposed in recent years. The European Parliament first called for an EU white paper on security and defence as early as 2016.