Resuscitating Europe’s Defense Industry

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the attempt of transatlantic partners to provide Kyiv with the weapons systems and ammunition it needs to keep up the fight for the long-haul has renewed focus on the importance of the defense industrial base. Particularly in Europe, the past two years have exposed numerous problems with the defense industry, including inadequate stocks and lengthy production timelines. Ukraine’s European backers have attempted to address these issues through new policies at the EU level, including common procurement and a new defense industrial strategy. However, funding shortfalls and ongoing debates about whether defense acquisitions should come from outside the European Union continue to pose obstacles. To discuss the urgency of making Europe’s defense industry fit for the demands of today’s security challenges, Sophia Besch and Christian Mölling join Nicholas Lokker and Jim Townsend on this week’s episode of Brussels Sprouts.  

Sophia Besch is a fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and her area of expertise is European defense policy.    

Christian Mölling is deputy director of the Research Institute at the German Council on Foreign Relations, where he also heads the Center for Security and Defense.