EU Approves €1.5 Billion Fund for Defense Investments

European Union member nations agreed to a €1.5 billion (us$1.7 billion) fund for investments in defense, European diplomats said Wednesday.

Negotiations regarding the European Defense Industrial Program have been ongoing since the European Commission first proposed the program over a year ago.

Buy European? Diplomats will vote on the final draft next week, which would require money from the fund to be used to purchase products with at least 65 percent of its components made in the EU. Some member states disagree over the fund’s “buy European” rules, finding them too restrictive.

This development is part of a larger drive for European rearmament.

Last month, EU ambassadors signed off on the new Security Action for Europe fund, set to provide €150 billion in loans for European defense projects.

Europe rising: Since Germany voted to amend its constitution to lift debt limits on defense spending in March, it has led Europe in an urgent dash to rearm. Just three months after this amendment was passed, billions of euros have been pledged to military spending in various forms.

Europe’s military history is grim. Allowing it to remilitarize will endanger the rest of the world.

To understand where Europe’s push to rearm is leading, read “Up in Arms.”