On Tuesday, Ursula von der Leyen, who was appointed to lead the European Commission for a second term, presented the new EU commissioners, with Lithuania’s Andrius Kubilius assigned the defence and space portfolio.
“He will work to develop the European Defence Union and to increase our defence capabilities,” von der Leyen said while introducing the Lithuanian representative.
The defence and space portfolio is new and was added to the European Commission for the 2024–2029 term in response to the growing security threats from Russia, the need to provide military assistance to Ukraine, and to strengthen the EU’s defence.
The EC president said she worked “hard” to achieve a gender balance in the new commission, but due to national nomination processes, she was only able to ensure that 40 percent of EU commissioners were women. This is a positive development, but “however much we have achieved, there is still a lot to be done”, von der Leyen said.
She also nominated six EC vice-presidents, including former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who has already been endorsed by EU leaders to become High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The nominated EU commissioners still need to be confirmed by the European Parliament.
Priority area
Kubilius, who will be responsible for the defence and space, said that the creation of such a portfolio is closely linked to von der Leyen’s vision and approach to the challenges facing the European continent.
“She identifies the EU’s defence and security as one of the two biggest priorities of the EU, alongside competitiveness,” Kubilius told the LRT journalists in Strasbourg.
The creation of a new defence post in the EC has been criticised because it is not yet clear how much resources the commissioner will have.
“This is a new priority area that needs resources. Ursula von der Leyen herself says that an additional 500 billion euros needs to be invested over the next 10 years. She also says that the best investment in Europe’s security is an investment in Ukraine’s security. These priorities need to be turned into reality,” Kubilius noted.
The EC president has already said that she will task the new defence commissioner with preparing a white paper on European security within his first 100 days in office. Kubilius stressed that his priority would be to tackle the problems that are most visible today, especially in the area of resource mobilisation.
“The EU defence industry is in a state of crisis, with European countries buying only 20 percent of the weapons they need from EU manufacturers. The single market in defence is practically non-existent and fragmented, as defence policy has also been very fragmented so far,” Kubilius said.
“The EU has defined a clear direction in its treaty – Article 42.2 states that the EU should grow towards a common defence policy and common defence. This is the direction of the new European Defence Union,” he added.
According to Kubilius, his second area of responsibility – space – is also very specific and related to defence.
“Europe has had some very strong breakthroughs in space technology, but it is starting to fall very far behind in its ability to launch satellites into space. [...] Europe has a case here for not losing the competition. This requires funds, perhaps looking at how to better coordinate the whole policy,” he explained.
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