The EESC emphasises that peace must remain a core EU priority and cautions against focusing solely on military threats while overlooking other serious risks to human life. It stresses the importance of diplomacy for conflict resolution and crisis prevention wherever possible.The EESC supports a comprehensive, inclusive European defence strategy that supplements military readiness with civil preparedness. It endorses the European Commission’s Joint white Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030 and calls for a coordinated EU approach that treats defence, peace and security as shared public goods, underpinned by strong legal, institutional and financial frameworks with democratic oversight.
In view of Europe's current security challenges, in particular with the armed conflict caused by Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, defence funding places a significant burden on the budgets of many EU Member States, worsening their fiscal position.
At the same time, the resources that Member States are currently able to allocate to the development of defence capabilities still seem to be insufficient.
As Europe needs to develop defence capabilities in a more integrated way, there is a need to significantly increase investment in European defence infrastructure and technological innovation to improve preparedness to respond to threats.
