EU unveils defense action plan amid Trump criticism
The European Union unveiled plans Nov. 30 to promote defense cooperation and wiser military spending as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump warns NATO’s European allies to start paying their fair share.
The European Commission said the multibillion-euro plan would fund research into areas like encrypted software or robotics and boost investment in joint projects across member states such as drones or helicopters.
It also aims to ease rules restricting defense procurement across borders, improve industry standards and adapt policies like the EU’s space program to security priorities.
“Our member states cannot afford to protect their citizens without deeper and better cooperation,” European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen told reporters.
The commission says EU countries have cut defense spending by nearly 12 percent in real terms over the last decade but have failed to deepen military cooperation. It says this lack of cooperation is costing 25-100 billion euros ($27-106 billion) each year.
European defense spending is plagued by duplication — around 80 percent of defense procurement is done on a national basis — a lack of interoperability between equipment owned by member nations and technological gaps. The failure to jointly produce defense programs also deprives the EU of important economies of scale.
The new plan could see security and defense research funding rise to about 90 million euros annually by 2020 and mobilize about 5 billion euros a year for joint projects.
Any national contribution to it could be taken into account when the EU assesses whether countries are respecting the bloc’s budget deficit rules.
The plan is to be debated with industry and submitted to EU leaders for discussion at their summit on Dec. 15-16.
Twenty-two EU countries are also members of NATO. Only four of them spend NATO’s agreed upon target of 2.0 percent of gross domestic product on defense.
Trump suggested during campaigning that he might not defend allies that aren’t pulling their weight. His campaign rhetoric rattled members of the EU and NATO worried about his relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and an increasingly belligerent Moscow. AP
Draft decision allows more Navy electronic-warfare training
The U.S. Forest Service issued a draft decision Nov. 29 that would allow the Navy to expand its electronic warfare training on the Olympic Peninsula.
The proposed decision would authorize a special use permit for the Navy to conduct ground-to-air training using mobile electronic transmitters on Forest Service lands for five years. A 45-day period to register objections before a final decision is made started Tuesday.
The Navy is planning for an $11.5 million expansion of its electronic-warfare range activities, including the deployment of three mobile, camper-sized electromagnetic transmitters on Olympic National Forest logging roads in Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor counties.
The transmitters would engage in exercises with radar-jamming jet pilots from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Establishing the range would allow for future growth in training and make it easier for the Navy to train closer to home, according to the environmental assessment.
The Navy has said the project will not have a significant impact on noise, public health or plants and animals. Flights over Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest would increase up to 10 percent, but Navy officials said noise levels generated during the exercises would not harm wildlife. Navy officials have also said jets involved in the exercise would fly as low as 6,000 feet, the Peninsula Daily News reported.
The Forest Service received more than 3,300 comments, most of them expressing opposition over concerns such as jet noise or electromagnetic radiation. The Forest Service says based on the comments that project design features and standard operating procedures have been incorporated to protect public health and safety.
People who commented on the proposal previously can submit objections to the draft decision. AP