Measures to strengthen European defense

The EU Parliament discussed measures to strengthen European defense and expand the EU's strategic security and defense partnerships. According to Parliament, the background is an increasingly unstable international environment, the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, tensions in transatlantic relations and new security policy challenges in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region. Against this background, MEPs emphasize the need for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own security and to specifically expand its military capabilities and industrial defense base. Strategic defense and security partnerships are seen as an indispensable instrument for strengthening Europe's ability to act and improving deterrence. At the same time, there is a need for long-term and sustainable support for Ukraine as a contribution to Europe's security. The stronger networking of security, defense and industrial policy should help to increase Europe's defense capability, reduce critical dependencies and better prepare the EU for current and future threats. MEPs underline the need for closer cooperation between the EU and NATO to address the biggest security threat since the end of the Second World War. Russia is defined as the greatest threat. Additionally, China is described as a strategic competitor whose support for Russia requires a reassessment of economic relations and strengthening the EU's resilience towards China. Attention: The voting results shown on the right only reflect the voting behavior of the 96 German MEPs and not that of all 720 MEPs. Overall, the measures were approved with 440 votes in favour, 119 against and 85 abstentions. Of the German MEPs, 62 voted for and 27 against. There were no abstentions.

Vote breakdown