The EU buys too much defense equipment abroad, especially from the US, a major report says
European Union countries are buying too much of their defense equipment abroad, much of it U.S.-made, and failing to invest in joint military projects, a landmark report is warning
BRUSSELS — European Union countries are buying too much of their defense equipment abroad, almost two thirds of it in the United States, and failing to invest enough in joint military projects, a landmark report on EU competitiveness warned on Monday.
The 27 member states are also failing to make best use of Europe’s research and development capacities to modernize their armed forces, with just a fraction the level of U.S. investment, said the report by former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.
The report comes as the EU continue to struggle to find enough weapons and ammunition to help Ukraine survive the full-scale Russian invasion, now in its third year, and to kickstart Europe’s defense industry.
“Europe is wasting its common resources. We have large collective spending power, but we dilute it across multiple different national and EU instruments,” said Draghi’s report, which has been a year in the making and is likely to fuel an overhaul of the bloc’s industrial strategy.
Part of the problem, it said, is failing to invest properly in Europe to create stronger defense firms.
“We are still not joining forces in the defense industry to help our companies to integrate and reach scale,” it said. The report pointed out that «we also do not favor competitive European defense companies.”
The report notes that, between mid-2022 and mid-2023, 63% of all EU defense orders were placed with U.S. companies, and a further 15% with other non-EU suppliers. Last week, the Netherlands joined a list of EU members to order
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