Defense White Paper: How the Single Market Enhances Efficiency and Interoperability

List of Key Chapter Titles

1. Introduction
2. Critical Gaps in European Defense
3. Proposals and Insights: The 2025 Defense White Paper
4. Analysis and Discussion of Objectives
5. Conclusion
6. References
7. Underinvestment in the European Defense Sector
8. The Fragmented State of the EU's Defense Industrial Base
9. Critical Capability Gaps in the Military Domain
10. Shortcomings in Technological and Scientific Capabilities
11. Strategic Measures for the "Europeanization" of the Defense Industry
12. Building EU Partnerships with NATO and Ukraine

Document Overview

Security is a core public good and shared responsibility of the European Union. However, the EU currently faces significant shortcomings in security preparedness and mutual trust among member states. 58% of EU citizens believe they are not prepared to handle local crises. Furthermore, the evolving geopolitical landscape exposes the EU to more complex security threats, necessitating a reinforcement of defense architecture and civil-military coordination. This report provides an in-depth analysis centered on the 2025 *Defense White Paper*, focusing on the core value of a single defense market for enhancing European defense efficiency and interoperability.

The report first systematically outlines the critical gaps in European defense: over the past fifty years, EU defense spending has continuously declined, with a significant gap between actual investment and commitments. In 2022, defense R&D investment accounted for only 4.5% of the approved budget. The EU's defense industrial base is severely fragmented, with member states employing different equipment standards. The proportion of joint procurement falls far below targets, and supply chains are dispersed. Military capabilities exhibit multi-domain weaknesses, including modernization delays in equipment such as naval vessels and combat vehicles, insufficient air and missile defense systems, and weak competitiveness in emerging domains like cyber and space.

Subsequently, the report details the three core policy directions of the 2025 *Defense White Paper*: strengthening defense investment through instruments like defense eurobonds and specialized bank financing, aiming to encourage member states to allocate 5% of GDP to defense; building a single defense market by revising procurement and transfer directives, promoting joint procurement and industrial consolidation, and establishing a unified certification system; deepening partnerships with Ukraine and NATO, supporting the integration of Ukraine's defense industry into the EU framework, and enhancing cross-organizational coordination and joint planning.

The report analyzes the implementation pathways for the White Paper's objectives from both short-term and long-term perspectives: the short-term focus is on military-level integration, addressing capability gaps, and supporting Ukraine, including strengthening cyber, air, and land combat training and rapid joint procurement of critical equipment. The long-term focus is on ensuring the predictability of military needs, establishing security guarantee mechanisms through coordinated investment, and building full-spectrum interoperability across legal, organizational, semantic, and technical dimensions.

Simultaneously, the report objectively presents the challenges facing policy implementation: the adequacy of funding and the feasibility of targets are questioned; nuclear deterrence capabilities are not included in strategic considerations; reconciling member states' national interests with European collective interests faces resistance; and rules for third-party participation are contentious. Nonetheless, the report emphasizes that a single defense market remains a key framework for addressing European defense fragmentation and enhancing collective defense capabilities. Its successful implementation will lay a solid foundation for the EU's strategic autonomy and geopolitical influence.