BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government approved on Wednesday a defence industry strategy that aims to make it easier for companies to ramp up capacity and to accelerate weapons production, with an eye to the current security situation and the war raging in Ukraine.
“The current threat situation requires that we promote key technologies in Germany,” said German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in a joint statement with Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
Both ministers are set to meet with top representatives from the German defence industry on Thursday in Berlin to discuss the strategy, though no decisions are expected from those talks, according to several sources familiar with the plans.
Germany, the largest backer of Ukraine in Europe, vowed to upgrade its eroded Bundeswehr army and boost defence as part of a “Zeitenwende” – or “turning point” – in a policy shift announced shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
As part of the shift, Germany created a 100-billion-euro fund to boost the army after being criticised for years for spending too little on defence, effectively relying on the U.S. to underpin its security despite being Europe’s biggest economy.
While the future of the strategy is unclear as Germany heads towards a snap election in February, conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is in pole position to become the next chancellor, wants to increase defence spending and strengthen the country’s armed forces.
Under the strategy, Berlin aims to have a stronger focus on the industry’s financial framework conditions, to address the need to retain skilled labour and to reduce bureaucratic hurdles.
It also allows the government to consider taking a stake in defence companies in “exceptional” cases and calls for missiles, missile defence, ammunition and other key defence supplies to be made readily available in the interests of national security.
Habeck said the strategy would give planning security to the defence industry and promote innovation.
“To this end, we are also striving for better European framework conditions and a strategic consolidation of the European security and defence industry,” he added.
(Reporting by Christian Kraemer, Sabine Siebold and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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