European Commission to propose EU-wide mechanism to pool member states' defence orders

Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday announced that the bloc's plan to boost its defence will include a joint Task Force with Ukraine to coordinate military support to the war-torn country and a European Military Sales Mechanism aimed at strengthening the European defence industrial base.

The European Commission chief said the two new instruments will be part of the highly-anticipated White Paper for Defence that will be released on Wednesday and which is meant to outline the EU's priorities for defence investments and how to finance them.

The White Paper, which von der Leyen dubbed “a roadmap for 'Readiness 2030'," will outline four priorities including increasing support for Ukraine and strengthening Europe’s defence industrial base.

On Ukraine, "there is a lot more that we can do," von der Leyen told the cadets at the Royal Danish Military Academy in Copenhagen.

"To help make this a reality, we will set up a joint Task Force with Ukraine to coordinate the EU’s and member states military support to Ukraine. But Ukraine can support us too. In fact, there is a lot that we can learn from the transformation of Ukraine’s defence industry," she added.

Ukraine's ramp-up in defence production can be "a blueprint for Europe", von der Leyen also said, calling for Ukraine's integration in the European defence equipment market to be sped up.

On the industrial side, she highlighted that European defence companies cannot produce the equipment in the quantities and speed member states need them at, due in part to the overall market in Europe being "too fragmented".

"We really need to turn the tide. It starts with investment in Europe. As we all know, today the majority of defence investment goes outside Europe. In other words: good jobs outside Europe, return on investment outside Europe. Research, development and innovation outside Europe. This is not sustainable. We must buy more European," she said.

"In addition, companies need a steady stream of multi-year orders to steer investment and ramp up capacity. Pooling our demand and joint procurement is therefore even more important. We will set up a European Military Sales Mechanism to help make this happen," she announced.

To facilitate this, the Commission will convene a strategic dialogue with the defence industry.

Air and missile defence, ammunition, drones

Von der Leyen already unveiled a ReArm Europe proposal two weeks ago to help member states boost defence spending that includes a new instrument to raise money on the capital markets to then loan it to member states for defence projects, as well as the use of the national escape clause in the Stability and Growth Pact to allow governments to deviate from stringent EU fiscal rules for defence spending.

The plan also outlined the defence capabilities the Commission has identified as priorities for such funding, including air and missile defence, artillery systems, ammunition and missiles, drones, cyber, and military mobility.

EU leaders gave their political backing to the proposal at an extraordinary summit last week. They are now expected to discuss the White Paper at a two-day summit kicking off in Brussels on Thursday.

But no decisions are expected at this meeting with leaders instead set to wait until a summit in late June that will come immediately after a gathering of NATO heads of state.

"Financing is an important first step, but the real test is we need to convert money into concrete actions," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said minutes before von der Leyen.

"Europe must be able to defend itself, and we need to take action now to ensure this. I hope that we can set a very clear goal to strengthen our European defence and security," she added.

Von der Leyen also said that "acting now is a must" and that "by 2030, Europe must have a strong European defence posture."

Multiple intelligence agencies have warned that Russia could have the means to attack a European NATO ally before the end of the decade

"We are stronger than we think. And we are not in this alone. Europe is more united than ever," she said. The bloc is also "fully committed to working with NATO and the United States" and is working on breaking "new ground on security" with the UK and other partners, including Canada and Norway, von der Leyen said.

But a quick security pact with the UK appears uncertain as some member states have signalled it would have to be part of a wider reset in relations, while recent comments from President Donald Trump and other top officials in his administration have raised concerns about Washington's continued commitment to European defence.

Another area of contention with the US is Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, which Trump said Washington could take by force over national security grounds.

"To all the people of Greenland – and of Denmark as a whole – I want to be clear that Europe will always stand for sovereignty and territorial integrity," von der Leyen told the cadets.