EU Rolls Out €150 bn Plan to Help Europe ‘Prepare for the Worst’

The European Commission has unveiled a €150-billion plan to reshape the bloc’s defense policy as Europe scrambles to adjust its security architecture to counter the threat posed by Russia and the possible dissolution of transatlantic ties by the Trump administration.

Kaja Kallas, the commission’s foreign policy chief, presented the ‘White Paper for European Defence and the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030’ on Wednesday.

Kallas said the plans are aimed at “making European countries stronger against any threat” as well as supporting Ukraine and other countries beyond Europe’s borders.

“We do this not to fight a war but to prepare for the worst, defend peace in Europe and stand strong for a world where might cannot make right,” she said.

“The international order is undergoing changes of a magnitude not seen since 1945,” Kallas said. “This is a pivotal moment for European security. A pivotal moment for action.”

Describing Europe’s funding needs as “massive,” Kallas said Europe had not prioritized defense over recent decades. She said the white paper provided for “large-scale pan-European projects” as well as helping member states replenish their stocks of arms and keep Ukraine supplied.

She added that the EU would continue to support Kyiv militarily, including with “more ammunition, at least 2 million rounds per year, as well as air defense, drones, and the training and equipping of Ukrainian brigades.”

According to a letter seen by Reuters, Kallas will present the proposal to supply Kyiv with two million rounds of large-caliber artillery ammunition on Thursday during a gathering of European leaders.

Kallas wrote in the letter to EU foreign and defense ministers that the two million rounds, valued at €5 billion, “is available on the market and could be delivered in 2025.”

Brussels would support the Ukrainian defense sector, Kallas also said during the conference, by jointly developing new systems.

In this regard, the EU will work together with Ukraine as the bloc has “a lot to learn from Ukraine’s battlefield experience,” she added.

The former Estonian prime minister emphasized that “Russia’s economy is in full war mode” with 40% of the federal budget spent on defense.

“This is a long-term investment in a long-term plan of aggression,” she said.

Kallas also said Brussels would not take over defense from the remit of member states.

“Member states must remain in the driving seat when it comes to defense,” she said. “This is a question of national sovereignty.”

But the European defense fund will only be available to EU arms producers and companies from countries that have signed a defense agreement with the bloc, the Financial Times reported, citing EU officials.

This could lead to the UK – home to one of Europe’s most advanced and largest defense industries – Turkey and the U.S. being excluded unless they sign a partnership agreement with Brussels, according to the Financial Times.