There is no “European” defence industry
The EU Think Tank1 has released an analysis of the European defence industry2 and I’m just not buying it: there is no “European” defence industry, there are multiple National companies working mostly in their national boundaries, with direct control from national governments, pursuing products and programs that align and enhance the defence strategy of their respective Nations - all situated in the european continent.
The report says so itself:
In many instances, national authorities maintain blocking or controlling shares, which helps safeguard alignment with national priorities and allows for direct public oversight. Across continental Europe, ownership is commonly concentrated either within the state or among family-controlled enterprises.
In that light, all the pan-European initiatives and funds created and unlocked (listed in the report), since the Russia-Ukraine war started in 2022, amount to subsidising national strategies and just paying lip service to integration and European defence unity3.
For this to change, France, Germany, Italy and the whole lot have to be certain a war among themselves could never happen again, same way Massachusetts knows Texas and California are not going to be a problem - I touched on that point the other day Riff: Eunification: a Historical Perspective.
Some real conversations must be had in Europe, on politics, identity, values, what we fight for, who are we Europeans?
These are long and painful conversations, but needed to give a foundation to whatever the concept of “European” defence will be used to protect, or there will only be national armies defending national interests when the time comes - and it always comes.
Highly imaginative name I know, emblematic in and of itself↩
PDF version here in case the link gets pulled↩
Whatever that actually means in case the shit hits the fan we are not supposed to know.↩