The European Union is discussing the creation of joint military capabilities designed to reduce Europe’s dependence on the United States, Politico reports.
According to the outlet, the idea is being considered amid growing concern among European countries over how durable the United States’ commitment to NATO will remain in the future.
The discussion centers on developing shared European systems, including air-to-air refueling and other critical elements of military infrastructure that are currently provided to a significant degree by the United States.
The proposed arrangement would allow EU countries to voluntarily direct part of their defense budgets toward the joint development and procurement of military equipment. The European Union, in turn, would coordinate such projects and help carry them out.
At the center of the discussion are NATO’s so-called “strategic enablers.” These include command-and-control systems, satellite intelligence, surveillance, logistics and other elements without which large-scale military operations are impossible. A substantial share of those capabilities currently depends on the United States.
European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius has estimated the cost of creating a European alternative at roughly €500 billion. Some experts, however, believe the real cost could be considerably higher, while implementing such projects could take up to a decade or more.
The initiative is still at an early stage and faces political and financial constraints. Politico names the program’s high cost and disagreements within the EU over the depth of military integration as among the main obstacles.
“We all know that strategic capabilities are a priority, and we have agreed to work on this together,” one of the outlet’s sources said. According to the source, members of the European Parliament will discuss the idea in greater detail next week.