BRUSSELS: A 1.5 billion-euro ($1.65 billion) EU plan to bolster Europe's defence industry is too small in the face of the challenges posed by Russia and arming Ukraine, auditors said on Wednesday.
"The suggested €1.5 billion in spending along with the two-year implementation period may not square with the ambitious objectives," the European Court of Auditors, which analyses EU programmes, said.
The 27-nation bloc has been scrambling to boost its weapons production since Moscow launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But, despite some improvement, the EU's arms output lags far behind that of Russia and industry is struggling to provide enough to both arm Kyiv and build up EU forces.
Brussels has launched a spate of programmes since Moscow's invasion aimed at increasing the output of the EU's defence industry.
The latest of those was the proposed 1.5-billion-euro European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) put forward in March to support joint purchases of arms by EU states and investments by firms to boost capacity.
The EU proposal "needs more robust design", warned ECA member Marek Opiola.
European officials have already complained that the money involved is inadequate if the EU truly wants to make progress on its efforts to spur industry.
"It's important, it can have an impact. But I would like to see much bigger numbers," Andrius Kubilius, who is nominated to be the EU's new defence commissioner, said last month.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has estimated that the bloc will need to invest €500 billion overall on defence over the next decade.
EU member states have ramped up their own defence spending in the wake of the invasion but central efforts from Brussels have failed to keep pace.
Countries including France and Estonia have been pushing the EU to consider joint borrowing similar to that used to recover from the Covid pandemic to fund its defence ambitions. But other EU states such as Germany and the Netherlands have so far baulked at the suggestion.
Meanwhile, Croatia will host a Balkans leaders summit on Ukraine next week that will also be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Croatia's prime minister said Thursday.
The aim of the meeting, to be held in the southern Adriatic resort of Dubrovnik, is that the "whole region support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the fight for freedom", Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said during a regular government session.
He did not reveal the date of the meeting but government sources and local media reports say it is scheduled for Wednesday.
The previous "Ukraine-Southeast Europe" summit took place in February in Albania's capital Tirana. - AFP
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