So far, only 41,000 of a million promised grenades are said to have been secured. Criticism from the EU Court of Auditors.
A million artillery shells within a year, the EU committed to Ukraine about a month ago. Officials once again raved about an “extraordinary demonstration of unity and the EU’s willingness to act” – before it became clear: It is not that easy. While France insisted that you only wanted to EU (and Norway) companies set, braked die German government.
➤ How many artillery shells the EU wants to produce and why it will be difficult
be it not possible,these amounts so to produce quickly – you also have to in countries like Japan and Australia shopping. And so Berlin and Paris continue to discuss and negotiate formulations and potential partners while defense company wait for official orders to the anyway lengthy preparations to be able to meet for production and to look for skilled workers.
Also on Wednesday could those entrusted with the negotiations Diplomats don’t on joint purchases of ammunition for Ukraine some – and it’s unclear whether a compromise can be reached at all on Friday. “The delivery of ammunition from the EU to Ukraine is becoming more and more embarrassing,” said a Western diplomat.
300,000 artillery shells a year
That the promised number of grenades will arrive at the promised time is considered increasingly unlikely. In internal reports, according to the HE DOES von 41,000 shells so far the speech. The EU currently produces 300,000 pieces a year.
In addition, the published EU Court of Auditors its first EU defense report – and this one does not skimp on criticism:
“The European Defense Fund (EVF), with a budget of 7.9 billion euros, is the Commission’s flagship instrument for supporting defense cooperation in Europe,” the EU Commission said in April 2021. It is a priority for “a stronger Europe in the world,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Defense fund has “no long-term strategy”
The European Defense Fund, set up in 2019, aims to support cooperation within the EU in research and development of defense capabilities. Overall, he sees for the period 2021-2027 Budget of 7.9 billion euros before. For comparison: this Defense budget of the Netherlands was 2022 14.12 billion euros. (Austria is tight 3.3 billion.)
➤ Austria had the first tanks, but rejected them – for the sake of the horses
“The EU still does not have a longer-term strategy for the EVF,” says the report of the EU Court of Auditors. For example, he recommended a “planning horizon of more than one year for the EVF work programs”.
But even before the introduction of the EVF, there were difficulties: for example, the “EU Defense Research Program” (PADR), which is endowed with 90 million euros, was only partially useful between 20178 and 2019 in order to “prepare the EU for a significant increase in its defense spending to prepare and pave the way for the EVF”.
Project “SAURON”
The Court of Auditors notes that projects financed under PADR have been slow to progress. Results were not delivered on time. When the first tenders for the EVF began in May 2021, most PADR projects were still ongoing.
One of these projects is the “SAURON” (Sensors for Advanced Usage & Reconnaissance of Outerspace situatioN) project, which aims to lay the foundation for the development of a network of European ground-based and space-based sensors. The aim is the “identification and characterization of space resources in the entire orbit”.
“Such defense research projects tend to be long-term: it may take 20 years or more before their results can be used by defense ministries,” the report says.
Brieger emphasizes the urgency of closer EU-NATO cooperation
Above all, however, collective defense has become the focus of the EU member states, but the EU’s common security and defense policy is limited to “external crisis management”. The issues that are currently being pushed can therefore not be tackled with the European Defense Fund.