MIDDAY BRIEF, IN BRIEF

Today at Commission, ‘the EU is not a military alliance’

The EU is not NATO, Federica Mogherini says.

Wednesday in the European Commission was all about defense — and the EU’s efforts to splash the cash on military equipment and on joint defense capabilities.

Foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Jyrki Katainen, the Commission vice-president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, had the job of presenting the Commission’s plans on the future of the EU’s defense policy and a proposal for a €5.5 billion European Defense fund.

Before getting started, Mogherini expressed her condolences to the victims of the attacks in Tehran.

“Usually we are accused of being too slow, for once the European Union took decisions quickly and has results … I believe citizens would appreciate,” she said, adding that EU countries and the Commission had been working for 10 months to reach consensus for the EU to speed up its cooperation on defense.

The EU’s chief diplomat also pointed out the job of the Commission when it comes to defense policy is not to “replace or compete” with NATO as “the EU is not a military alliance and will not turn into a military alliance.”

Asked if the election of Donald Trump helped for the EU to get its act together, Mogherini said there was a “growing desire” among the EU’s global partners to boost cooperation with Europe, which is “partly linked to [the] unpredictability” of the U.S. president.

European commissioners also approved the registration of a European citizens’ initiative calling for an end to extremism. Campaigners have now a year to collect at least a million signatures in at least seven countries, which would force the Commission to discuss legislation “to prevent the adverse consequences of extremism, above all for the internal market.”