France pushes for joint EU defence procurement after Mediterranean incident
France formally put forward a proposal on Tuesday for a coalition-of-the-willing approach to joint defence procurement amongst interested EU member states, citing recent security incidents in the Mediterranean as pressing justification.
The Élysée proposal would permit groups of as few as five member states to pool procurement budgets under a streamlined legal framework, bypassing the requirement for unanimous Council backing.
The initiative has reportedly garnered preliminary support from Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and the Baltic states. Berlin has expressed reservations about parallel structures that might undermine the European Defence Industry Programme.
NATO officials briefed on the proposal indicated it would not duplicate Alliance capability targets.
