A European Defence Action Plan and “Clean Energy for All Europeans”

The Commission proposes a European Defence Fund as part of today’s Defence Action Plan. The purpose of the “Clean Energy for All Europeans” package is to put energy efficiency first, achieve global leadership in renewable energies and provide a fair deal for consumers.

A European Defence Action Plan

The European Defence Action Plan adopted by the Commission today is about creating the conditions for more defence cooperation to maximise the output and the efficiency of defence spending, and about fostering a strong, competitive and innovative defence industrial base. Member States will remain in the driving seat when deciding on which technologies and assets to invest in, and will retain ownership of the defence capabilities.

In the context of the Action Plan, the Commission proposes a European Defence Fund which would include two “windows” which are complementary but different in their legal structure and budget sourcing.

• The “research window” would fund collaborative research in innovative and strategic defence technologies. The Commission has already proposed EUR 25 million for defence research as part of the 2017 EU Budget and expects that this allocation could grow to a total of EUR 90 million until 2020. Under the post-2020 EU multiannual financial framework, the Commission intends to propose a dedicated defence research programme with an estimated amount of EUR 500 million per year
• The “capability window” would act as a financial tool allowing participating Member States to purchase certain assets together to reduce their costs. This window should be able to mobilise about EUR 5 billion per year.

The European Defence Action Plan also proposes to foster investments in SMEs, start-ups, mid-caps and other suppliers to the defence industry and to strengthen the Single Market for defence. It will foster the competitiveness of the European defence industry.

Over the last decade EU Member States have decreased defence spending by nearly 12% in real terms, but this has not been compensated by more European cooperation. The lack of cooperation between Member States in the field of defence and security is estimated tocost annually between EUR 25 billion and EUR 100 billion

More Europe in defence will have a positive spill-over effect on the European economy. The European defence industry generates a total turnover of €100 billion per year and 1.4 million highly skilled peopled directly or indirectly employed in Europe. Each euro invested in defence generates a return of 1,6, in particular in skilled employment, research and technology and exports.

Clean Energy for All Europeans

The European Commission today presents a package of measures to keep the European Union competitive as the clean energy transition is changing the global energy markets.

The European Commission wants the EU to lead the clean energy transition, not only to adapt to it. For this reason the EU has committed to cut CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 while modernising the EU’s economy and delivering on jobs and growth for all European citizens.

Today’s proposals have three main goals:

1. putting energy efficiency first,
2. achieving global leadership in renewable energies, and
3. providing a fair deal for consumers.

Consumers are active and central players on the energy markets of the future. Consumers across the EU will in the future have a better choice of supply, access to reliable energy price comparison tools and the possibility to produce and sell their own electricity. Increased transparency and better regulation give more opportunities for civil society to become more involved in the energy system and respond to price signals. The package also contains a number of measures aimed at protecting the most vulnerable consumers.

The Clean Energy for All Europeans legislative proposals cover energy efficiency, renewable energy, the design of the electricity market, security of electricity supply and governance rules for the Energy Union. In addition the Commission proposes a new way forward for Ecodesign as well as a strategy for connected and automated mobility.

The package also includes actions to accelerate clean energy innovation and to renovate Europe’s buildings. It provides measures to encourage public and private investment, promote EU industrial competitiveness and mitigate the societal impact of the clean energy transition. We are also exploring ways in which the EU can show further leadership in clean energy technology and services to help third countries achieve their policy goals.

The Commission’s “Clean Energy for All Europeans” proposals are designed to show that the clean energy transition is the growth sector of the future – that’s where the smart money is. Clean energies in 2015 attracted global investment of over 300 billion euros. The EU is well placed to use our research, development and innovation policies to turn this transition into a concrete industrial opportunity. By mobilising up to 177 billion euros of public and private investment per year from 2021, this package can generate up to 1% increase in GDP over the next decade and create 900,000 new jobs.

Other issues

President Juncker has asked Michel Barnier, in his capacity as Chief Negotiator and Head of the Task Force for the preparation and conduct of the negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, to present to the College the state of play of his preparatory work. President Juncker intends to keep the College informed throughout the process.