France blocking Britain from EU’s massive defence fund
Paris seeking to restrict member states to purchasing weapons made mostly within the bloc, diplomatic sources claim
France is trying to shut out
British arms firms from the EU’s
defence industrial programme despite the
post-Brexit reset.
A diplomatic source told The Telegraph that Paris was seeking to restrict member states looking to make a purchase under the scheme to weapons made mostly within the bloc.
The European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) is being touted by the
European Commission as the largest overhaul of the Continent’s industrial base.
It will see EU cash pumped into joint procurement projects and the production of weapons, ammunition and other military hardware.
EDIP, which has been six months in the making, is part of a wider scramble
to spend €800 billion on defence by the end of the decade.
French diplomats have insisted the tool should be solely used to boost firms based inside the EU, as well as Norway and Ukraine.
This means any member states looking to make a purchase under the scheme will be restricted to technologies with at least 85 per cent of its parts made in the bloc.
The demand means that Britain, which recently signed a flagship defence and security agreement with Brussels,
will be shut out from the majority of projects being funded by the EU’s budget.
The UK will also be blocked from joint procurement projects under the EDIP scheme.
“Not even a month ago, we solemnly declared the turning of pages and opening of new chapters in our relationship with the UK,” an EU diplomat told The Telegraph.
“Yet, at the first occasion to turn those words into action, we have slammed the book shut.”
There are also fears the hard-line French position will see potential EU funding cut from factories producing
Patriot surface-to-air interceptors, because they are a US technology.
It comes at a time when Nato’s European allies and Canada were warned they would have to increase air defence systems
by 400 per cent to protect against the prospect of a Russian attack.
“It seems self-defeating to exclude investments in the one readily available air defence system, simply because it’s American,” the diplomat added.
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, has consistently pushed for EU defence schemes to be used to boost the Continent’s own industry, rather than allowing funds to be invested in foreign firms.
Bogged down in red tape
Many militaries across the EU, such as the Netherlands, Romania and Greece, have built their defensive strategies around the procurement of American systems, like Patriot air defence batteries.
To mitigate concerns, there are discussions over allowing the transfer of technologies from non-EU defence firms to businesses based in the bloc.
But insiders have said this mechanism will likely become bogged down in red tape, making it practically impossible to secure funds for.
