Afghanistan, a wake-up call for Europe on defense and leadership – France

CERNOBBIO, Italy (September 4) (Reuters) – Security challenges arising from the turmoil in Afghanistan should be a wake-up call for the European Union, French Finance Minister Bruno said on Saturday Le Maire, who urged the EU to be more ambitious in defense and on global leadership.

“Europe must become the number 3 superpower in addition to China and the United States. We open our eyes, we are facing threats and we can no longer trust the protection of the United States,” Le Maire told reporters during an annual business conference in Cernobbio, Lake Como.

“Afghanistan is a wake-up call,” he said, adding that Europe was also facing security threats in the Middle East and Africa.

The French minister said Paris had decided to invest 1.7 billion euros ($ 2.02 billion) more in defense this year and would like other European countries to do the same.

The minister also called on other EU member states to invest and deepen their single market to achieve the technological independence of large overseas companies and third countries.

“EU member states need to build the single market for finance and also need to reach a political agreement on the banking union to have more funding for new technologies,” Le Maire said.

He added that France will work to achieve these goals when it takes over the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2022.

“You can’t be sovereign from a political point of view if you depend on foreigners for semiconductors, electric batteries, satellites …”, he said, echoing similar comments from Italian Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao. who was also in Cernobbio.

Europe should invest to gain leadership in sectors such as hydrogen, digital cloud, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space exploration, satellites and biotechnology, Le Maire said.

($ 1 = $ 0.8416)

Report by Francesca Landini Edited by Frances Kerry

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