Von der Leyen plans new protection commissioner publish

The middle-right European Folks’s Celebration, with which von der Leyen is aligned, has come out in assist of making a protection publish within the subsequent Fee to steer work on ramping up the bloc’s industrial and protection capability.

Nevertheless, the scope of any such job continues to be unclear, and likewise if it might cowl the bloc’s protection trade or additionally safety operations and whether or not house can be included.

Von der Leyen mentioned it was an “open” query on which nationality would get the publish, however added that it is “essential” for a candidate from Central and Japanese Europe to obtain portfolio.

“It is a good portfolio,” she mentioned of the protection publish.

The Fee opened a devoted protection and house division — DG DEFIS — in 2019, and Inside Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has lined subjects associated to manufacturing of ammunition and aerospace.

Italy’s International Minister Antonio Tajani gave the protection commissioner plan plan his backing. “We must be actual actors in international coverage,” he mentioned in Munich.