The European Defense Union has always been a problematic node in the European integration process. The European Parliament organized a conference in Rome which was attended by politicians of national importance, the top Italian military leaders together with the CEO of Leonardo, a leading company in the defense sector. The purpose of the meeting is to investigate whether the time is ripe to break the taboo of common European defense and investigate the opportunities for integration in this sector, especially for Italy. The Stategic compass – the strategic compass – approved at the end of March by the European Council is, according to the President of the European Military Committee, General Claudio Graziano, “the first EU document that speaks of strategic defense at a time when the question of European defense is not it is more postponable ”. The Strategic Compass, in addition to creating a military unit of 5 000 people, calls on the 27 member states to commit, albeit individually, to increase their defense budgets. In this regard, the Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini highlighted how Italy, by investing in the defense sector, can play a key role in the future European strategy. If this were financed with the next MFF – the European seven-year budget – it would mean a further step towards fiscal union, along the lines of what could happen if the Next Generation EU – which for the first time creates common debt – achieves its purpose. “If we want to talk about integration, we must have a clear map for each EU country of the things we know how to do well and in which we want to invest”, said Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo, who during the meeting made a picture of the state of spending member states, and on the obstacles to integration.
Perfume: investments in research on which the NRP is intervening are fundamental
The data provided by Profumo shows that, at the moment, Europe exports a large part of the output of the military industry, 39% against only 9% of the United States. Each state purchases the materials it needs autonomously without coordinating with the others. In a common defense system, integration would take place according to a logic of vertical specialization in order not to fragment resources. “Investments in research are fundamental, on which the NRP is already intervening” concluded the CEO of Leonardo. The former President of the EU Parliament Antonio Tajani was even more explicit in linking the opportunities for both Italy and Europe of a common European defense. “C’est l’argent que fait la guerre. C’est l’argent que fait l’Europe ”- it is money that makes war, it is money that makes Europe. Reiterating the need for a permanent economic instrument to build a European defense system. Common defense financed with European debt would make it possible to make the increase in military spending more acceptable to European public opinion, both from an economic and a political point of view. Finally, to the objection whether a defense policy could really be possible in the face of the different foreign policy interests of the member states, the leader of Action Carlo Calenda replied that the first concrete step could be to create together an anti- missile.