On the white paper on the future of European defence
B-10-2025-0147
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group · Rapporteur: Reinier Van Lanschot, Mārtiņš Staķis, Ville Niinistö, Damian Boeselager, Hannah Neumann, Maria Ohisalo, Sergey Lagodinsky, Virginijus Sinkevičius
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This resolution on the white paper on the future of European defence calls for a comprehensive EU defence framework, increased support for Ukraine, stronger EU cooperation, and better preparedness against threats.¶¶¶ It urges member states to boost military aid to Ukraine, integrate Ukraine's defence industry, and explore seizing frozen Russian assets.¶¶¶ It demands a new framework for defence readiness, including scenarios, military doctrine, and capability goals, and stresses the need for EU-level cooperation and joint procurement.¶¶¶ It calls for strengthening parliamentary oversight, removing the unanimity rule in foreign policy, and creating a European security council and a defence bank.¶¶¶ It emphasizes the need for a single market for defence, support for SMEs, and a crisis response instrument, while opposing cuts to cohesion and social spending.¶¶¶
Key points
- Calls for the EU to increase efforts to shift the trajectory of Russia's war against Ukraine and set conditions for a just peace on Ukraine's terms.¶
- Urges member states to provide more arms and ammunition to Ukraine quickly, and to scale up investments in Ukraine's defence industry.¶¶
- Proposes allocating a multibillion euro budget to EDIP's Ukraine Support Instrument and exploring legal avenues for seizing frozen Russian assets.
- Demands a plan in the white paper for integrating Ukraine's defence industry into the EDTIB and providing war insurance for critical projects.¶
- Expects the white paper to define a framework for defence readiness and preparedness, making the EU ready to deter aggressors and assist NATO allies.¶
- Calls for a comprehensive framework including scenarios, military doctrine, revised headline goals, and proposals for armed forces cooperation structures.¶¶¶
- Urges the EU to adopt a holistic approach to security, including climate change, and to conduct impact assessments of policies.¶
- Calls for operationalising Article 42(7) TEU and creating a European security council to coordinate like-minded countries.¶¶
- Supports the Niinistö report's recommendations and calls for a preparedness Union strategy, EU risk assessment, and security checks.¶¶
- Calls for deleting the unanimity rule in foreign policy and amending Article 46(6) TEU for qualified majority voting in PESCO management.¶
- Proposes strengthening Parliament's oversight role, including via delegated acts and a representative on the defence industrial readiness board.¶
- Calls for addressing capability gaps, establishing specific capabilities like air defence and drones, and moving to a 'stock' approach with mandatory targets.¶¶¶
Who is affected
- EU member states: urged to increase military aid to Ukraine, cooperate on defence, and adopt joint procurement.¶¶¶
- Ukraine: to receive more arms, integration into EU defence industry, and war insurance for projects.¶
- Defence industry, including SMEs and start-ups: to benefit from increased support and easier market access.¶¶¶
- European Parliament: to gain stronger oversight role in defence matters.¶
Figures and deadlines
- EUR 6 billion blocked by Hungary's veto on the European Peace Facility.¶
- At least 5 000 troops for the Rapid Deployment Capacity by mid-2025.¶
- 14 % in 2022 and 6 % in 2023 for R&D collaboration; 18 % in 2023 for joint procurement.¶
- At least 40 % joint procurement by 2030, 35 % intra-EU trade by 2030, 50 % EU-made products by 2030 and 60 % by 2035.¶
- EUR 500 billion defence spending gap for the next decade.¶