MEP Lukas Mandl (ÖVP) is Vice-Chair of the Defense Committee in the European Parliament and Deputy Defense Spokesperson of the Group of the European People’s Party. We spoke to him about closer cooperation between the European armed forces, better use of resources and the role of the armed forces in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Mandl, you are in favour of stronger networking of the EU armed forces and you want to promote the development of European “strategic autonomy” – why?
We must not forget that our way of life and our liberal democracy do not suit everyone in the world. The greatest strength of today’s Europe is its unity. So those who see their own opportunities in confrontation rather than cooperation, those who want to weaken us, are aiming to reduce our unity and divide our societies. We must arm ourselves against this, not only in the area of defense, but also essentially in the area of defense. Pinpricks against Europe based on hybrid tactics are on the rise. This situation calls for the development of what experts call strategic autonomy: we must be able to help ourselves. The defense fund set up for the first time in the new EU financial framework offers a great opportunity for innovation in this area. Incidentally, the civilian benefits of this innovation would also be considerable when we finally have everyday goods “Made in Europe” in the age of digitalization, and jobs in Europe. We must strengthen our cooperation in the area of defence and develop “hard power” in addition to the EU’s “soft power”, as Commissioner for External Relations Borrell, who was also tasked by the Commission President with strengthening security and defence policy, and Commissioner for Industry Breton also emphasize in unison.
Is this also about more resources for defense or above all about a stronger focus, more networking and better use of resources?
The member states of the EU together provide more troops than the United States and invest the second most in defense after the USA. There are therefore sufficient resources available. But they are not used efficiently due to a lack of coordination between the member states. This slows down Europe’s external strengthening and the development of its economy. It is often overlooked that around 60 percent of innovation funding in the USA comes from the defense sector. Market leadership in the age of digitalization is no coincidence. Europe can do better here.
Isn’t the “Permanent Structured Cooperation” (PESCO for short), which was launched in 2017, aimed precisely at the closer coordination you want?
PESCO is the second most promising EU defense policy measure alongside the Defense Fund. So far, PESCO has produced 47 projects that have strengthened cooperation and interoperability between the armed forces of the member states and closed capability gaps. This is a good first step. In future, the importance of PESCO must be emphasized even more clearly and we must encourage the member states to participate in PESCO even more actively, purposefully and sustainably, but not only the member states.
To what extent should the aforementioned networking go? Could third countries also be involved beyond the EU borders?
This is exactly what has been possible for a few weeks now following the recent progress we have made. And it is also very important. For our security, for the efficient use of taxpayers’ money and for the unity of Europe, it helps if European states that are not, not yet, no longer or currently not member states also participate. The EU has a responsibility for the entire European territory and must therefore network and integrate. Unfortunately, it is completely underestimated how important the involvement of the United Kingdom is for the daily security of all of us. Brexit or not, there must be ways and means to achieve this in the future!
What contributions could Austria and the Austrian Armed Forces make to all of this?
The European Parliament recently acknowledged the central role of the European armed forces in the fight against the pandemic. The Austrian Armed Forces have contributed a great deal to this success thanks to their great expertise in NBC defense, for example. In addition to NBC defense, our Armed Forces also have great expertise in civil protection and many other areas, which is valued by many member states as added value in the context of closer European cooperation.
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