A hard-hitting 97 page study to be published on 12 October will point to the lack of cohesion between the EU's stated military ambitions and the actual delivery.
According to the Financial Times, the report, which has been produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and co-chaired by two retired top NATO generals, the American Joseph Ralston and the German Klaus Naumann, says that European leaders have “lacked the political will” to improve military capabilities.
The EU needs a more co-ordinated approach, indicates the report. The present state of defense budgets, flat or declining, in most European countries will not enable the military to carry out stated security strategies on such areas as combating terrorism and the proliferation of unconventional weapons.
The report aims to provoke a renewed debate on the need to pool EU resources and stronger integration of European military research and procurement. The report calls on European powers to re-allocate defence spending so that 25% of budgets are spent on research and acquiring new weapons, while no more than 40% is spent on personnel.
Chief executive of the European Defence Agency, Nick Witney, warmly welcomed the report.
