Aura Salla: Strengthening defence is the most important task for Europe at the moment
The prevailing state of security policy has put the ball rolling in Europe. Just last week, the heads of member states held discussions at the EU summit on enhancing European security and supporting Ukraine. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a plan to channel funds worth €800 billion into defence investments in the long term, which included a proposal for a new €150 billion financing instrument for defence investments. The instrument is loan-based, and borrowers are also responsible for its interest costs and repayment.
I commented on the German elections in February for a Finnish news channel, MVT3. In the special broadcast, I stated that Germany should now take leadership in defence policy. This is also what Germany has indicated when it announced, under the leadership of Friedrich Merz, expected Germany’s next chancellor, an armament and investment package, as well as easing the country’s debt regulations when it comes to defence. In addition to Germany, France, Poland, and the United Kingdom play a crucial role in obtaining immediate support and security guarantees for Ukraine. Ukraine needs support for its immediate armament, and subsequently for peace negotiations on its own terms as well as the establishment of security guarantees. This is Europe’s most important task at the moment.
In addition to defence policy and the situation in Ukraine, advocacy work in the Parliament has continued. In the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), I have spoken about European energy sovereignty and security, emphasizing that energy is both a national and a European security issue. We need stronger investments in modernizing the electricity grid, cross-border resilience, and state-of-the-art protection technologies. Furthermore, the Commission published the long awaited Clean Industrial Deal along with related Affordable Energy Action Plan in February. The essential part here is to build an EU-wide, market-based model, that is not based on subsidy-dependent price regulation.
I had the pleasure of joining The Sound of Economics by Bruegel – Improving economic policy to discuss the critical steps the EU must take to boost its competitiveness as well as the EU’s evolving tech regulation landscape. In addition, I made an appearance on a podcast by Financial Times. In the podcast I discussed, among other topics, my thoughts on technology regulation in the EU.
This week, another plenary session week is taking place in Strasbourg. It includes, among other things, the Commission’s statements on the Clean Industrial Deal and the Affordable Energy Action Plan. Additionally, there will be a topical debate in the plenary session regarding the first 100 days of the Commission’s term, where my attention will particularly focus on Europe’s defence and competitiveness.
Wishing you a pleasant spring ahead,
Aura
Member of the European Parliament, National Coalition Party, EPP
