Van Rij has been an executive director at the IMF for several years and was previously a deputy finance minister for a few years.
According to the former politician, opportunities for modernizing the European defense industry arise now that it has been decided to spend much more on defense in the coming years to become more independent from the military power of the United States.
Laborious
Van Rij pointed out the difficult and slow decision-making within the European Union. "Are we as Europe able to come up with standardized products for the development and construction of defense equipment and can we do that much faster than currently?" Van Rij asks aloud.
Promotion
The increase in defense spending is an important topic for the IMF. The organization recently addressed the consequences for inflation and recession in a report. The increase in European defense spending is also on the agenda of the IMF’s spring meetings, taking place next week in Washington.
Defense Industry
The goal of the EU defense ministers is to establish a truly EU-wide market for defense equipment by 2030, with simplified rules that allow rapid mass production and innovation.
NATO remains the cornerstone of collective defense in Europe for the time being. This is because the strategic partnership between the EU and NATO was strengthened in response to the Russian war in Ukraine. However, the current erratic policy of the US government constitutes a major source of uncertainty in this area.
With the British
According to the Dutch IMF director, it is important that EU countries cooperate with the British on military procurement. Some EU countries advocate placing all major investments only within their own EU countries. This would significantly reduce the ability of EU countries to purchase American weapons.
"You should not sideline the British on this point simply because they left the EU ten years ago." The United Kingdom is one of the largest military powers in Europe.
Formal negotiations on the UK's participation are expected to continue soon. This potential agreement follows earlier failed attempts to include the UK in the €150 billion EU Defense Fund.