US arms manufacturers 'will be kept out' of massive new EU defence spending plan

United States arms manufacturers will be "kept out" of the European Union's massive new defense spending plan, which aims to spend money on the EU and allied countries, according to defense spending plans published on Wednesday.

Also left out – for now – is the United Kingdom, writes Politico, the Telegraph reports.

"We must buy more European. Because this means strengthening the technological and industrial base of European defense," said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in announcing the Preparedness 2030 program.

In a bid to strengthen ties with allies, Brussels included countries such as South Korea and Japan and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in its programme that could see up to 800 billion euros spent on defence.

"We need to look not only at Russia as a threat, but also ... more global geopolitical developments and where the Americans will put their strategic attention," European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told reporters.

As the media points out, in recent years, about two-thirds of EU procurement orders have gone to American defense companies.

The Commission presented its long-term defense policy proposal, as well as a series of legislative proposals aimed at making it easier for countries to increase military spending and creating a more integrated defense market in the bloc.

"We are not doing this to go to war, but to prepare for the worst and to protect peace in Europe," said Kaja Kallas, the EU's chief diplomat.

The threat from Russia is the main driver for the strengthening of the continent's military-industrial complex – but changes in the US under President Donald Trump are also forcing the EU to move quickly.

The danger of "overreliance" on the US was highlighted by Trump's surprise decision to halt arms shipments and intelligence sharing to ally Ukraine to pressure Kiev to accept peace talks with Russia, Politico points out.

Kallas noted how Kiev has been hampered by relying on foreigners.

“They use weapons that are not produced in Ukraine [and] sometimes there are restrictions on how they can use those weapons … your military should really have a free hand in this regard,” she said.

The EU strategy underlined that while the United States is "traditionally a strong ally", it added that Washington "believes that it is overcommitted to Europe and needs to rebalance, reducing its historical role as a key security guarantor".

The most concrete proposal is a promise by the Commission to lend up to 150 billion euros to member states to be spent on defense under the so-called SAFE instrument.

While the loans will only be available to EU countries, friendly states from outside the bloc can also participate in joint arms purchases.

Joint procurement under the SAFE proposal is open to Ukraine; Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein; as well as “accession countries, candidate countries and potential candidates, as well as third countries with which the [European] Union has entered into a Security and Defence Partnership”.

By the end of January, the EU had six defence and security partnerships: with Norway, Moldova, South Korea, Japan, Albania and North Macedonia.

Turkey and Serbia, as EU candidate countries, could also join.

This leaves out the US and the UK – although Britain's status could change.

"We are working to have this defense and security partnership with Great Britain. I really hope that for the summit that will be held in May, we can have results," Kallas was quoted as saying.

Canada has also made it clear that it wants a closer security relationship with the EU. The Commission on Wednesday also offered greater defense cooperation with Australia, New Zealand and India.

"There are many requests around the globe to cooperate with us," said a senior EU official. /Telegraph/