Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the European Commission, has advocated for a major Franco-German agreement on the future path of the European Union (EU) in defence matters.
In a conference hosted by the New Economic Forum in Brussels, he emphasised the importance of European defence as a crucial subject for the upcoming term. With less than three weeks until the European elections, he stated."If we want to remain sovereign and relevant in global developments, now is the time to act."
Schinas proposed that the first step should be a "major political agreement" between France and Germany, defining the main criteria such as “what we want, who does what and with what money,” he said.
This agreement, he argued, should be concluded early in the next legislative cycle, ideally as part of the strategic agenda guiding the European Council in selecting the next European Commission President. He also pointed out that the strategic guidelines for the next five years must be agreed upon by heads of state and government by the end of June.
"Once we have this agreement, we can move to the next stage: implementation. If we do it the other way around – create structures first and then find tasks for the commissioners – believe me, it will not work," the Greek politician stressed.
Expressing confidence in the EU’s capabilities, Schinas highlighted its ability to agree on a coronavirus vaccination strategy and the NextGenerationEU recovery plan.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022, the issue of security and defence has resurfaced at the European level. Notably, Ursula von der Leyen, current European Commission President, urged significant enhancement of European defence capacity over the next five years in February.
