To achieve strategic autonomy, EU must do more than just boosting defense

For European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and some other European Union leaders, their top priority these days seems to be to get a monstrous €800 billion ($871 billion) for the ReArm Europe plan to boost the EU's defense capability.

The argument is that the plan is necessary to overcome the EU's lack of defense manufacturing capability, which has been exposed by the three-year-long Russia-Ukraine conflict, especially with EU member states trying to continuously supply military equipment and ammunition to Kyiv.

The other argument justifying the plan is US President Donald Trump's dramatic policy change on US allies, especially his administration's distancing from and trashing of European countries.

Some alarmists have also been claiming for the past few years that Russia will attack the EU or NATO member states soon and, hence, the necessity of the ReArm Europe plan. While such fearmongering has duped many Europeans, it makes no sense to most foreign policy experts. Neither Russia nor NATO would want to trigger a direct war with each other given that it could escalate into a nuclear Armageddon.

The best way to prevent a conflict between the EU and Russia in the future would be to improve relations between the two sides. Unfortunately, EU politicians still talk in a way that indicates the bloc will always treat Russia as an adversary. That is unwise to say the least.

Russia will remain the largest country in Europe and in the world. So the best way forward for the EU and Russia is to find a way to coexist peacefully. That itself will be worth much more than €800 billion for the EU.

It is indeed important for the EU to increase its defense capability to reduce its dependence on the United States for security. Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is right to seek "independence" from the US, step by step.

But the EU's overdependence on the US goes way beyond security and defense. The EU's foreign policy has long been dictated by Washington. It's no secret that the US also wields outsized influence in EU think tanks, schools, the media, and even in the EU's bureaucracy.

The news conference held by von der Leyen on March 9 to mark her 100 days in office in her second term might be a good reflection. When she called the US an ally, several journalists asked her why she still thinks the US is an ally after what the US administration had done to its transatlantic allies in the past seven weeks.

But von der Leyen's remark should not be surprising as she is known as "Europe's American president". If the EU is keen on seeking strategic autonomy, defense is only one of the many key areas it must work on.

There have been growing concerns that the€800 billion required for the ReArm Europe plan will redirect the money away from plans needed to attend to other, more critical issues.

When I asked Bas Eickhout, a Dutch member of European Parliament and co-chair of the Greens/European Free Alliance, about it on Tuesday, he voiced serious concern over the fact that the money that should have been spent on the EU's Green Deal might go to build the European military.

The Left Group in the European Parliament, including its co-chair Manon Aubry, was outraged by the ReArm Europe plan. The group asked why Europeans should pay for the arms race and why so many other issues such as fighting poverty and creating more jobs are not given priority.

Five years ago, the EU's Green Deal inspired the rest of the world to combat climate change and realize carbon neutrality. Today, many are wondering if the EU has put the deal on the back burner or downsized it to suit what EU leaders claim to be the new political and economic reality.

The ReArm Europe plan does not have the appeal of the Green Deal. The EU has far greater priorities today — to boost its economy and the livelihoods of its 450 million people, and to build peace rather than killer weapons.

The author is chief of China Daily EU Bureau based in Brussels.