Europe is shifting to EU-based defence procurement, top French industry executive says
BRUSSELS – European preference could help foster European-wide industrial cooperation, said Olivier Andriès, CEO of French giant Safran, a key player in the manufacturing of defence products used in Ukraine.
“We will see European countries starting to think about buying European rather than American," Andriès said in an interview with Euractiv.
For the Frenchman, the clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was a turning point for the European countries' procurement strategies – or at least it should have been.
Europeans are the US' number one buyer of defence equipment, according to SIPRI data. As Andriès pointed out, "there is a large trade deficit in defence equipment between the US and Europe.”
As most Europeans are largely dependent on the US for defence, growing uncertainty around US involvement in Europe's security has led to a reassessment of procurement strategies.
“We will see what happens," he said.
But "given what has happened over the past few weeks, there is a case for making progress on criteria [for a European preference], particularly on the design authority," remaining in the hands of EU industries.
Design authority allows manufacturers to change the product according to needs, and the end-user may use it according to their wish, without any interference from a foreign country.