United Europe discussed Europe’s role in promoting security, resilience, and economic stability on December 9, 2024, at the Würth Haus Berlin.
The European Union must enhance its competitiveness and ensure the security of its member states amid escalating geopolitical threats. How can the new European Commission strengthen its defense strategies? What critical reforms are necessary to make the EU future-ready and competitive? Under the leadership of Ms Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, Vice President of United Europe, the following panelists discussed these and other pressing questions:
- Her Excellency Marika Linntam, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Federal Republic of Germany
- His Excellency Giedrius Puodžiūnas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Federal Republic of Germany
- Ms Kerstin Petretto, Senior Manager for Security Policy and Defense, BDI e.V.
- Dr Laura Hirvi, Public Policy Manager, META
Ambassador Marika Linntam identified three central challenges for Europe:
- Security: Russia’s aggression in Ukraine poses a serious threat to the European security order, demanding decisive action.
- Competitiveness: Europe must strengthen its economic competitiveness, particularly through innovation and digitalization, with Germany playing a key role.
- Preserving a Rules-Based Global Order: In times of geopolitical tensions, it is crucial to uphold a values- and rules-based world order.
She emphasized the need for comprehensive engagement from all sectors – politics, business, and society – and highlighted the importance of joint measures to support Ukraine, enhance defense capabilities, and foster competitiveness. She stressed that Europe must close the investment gap with the United States and China. While expressing optimism about the potential of the new EU Commission, she underscored the necessity of unity and cooperation among member states, particularly Germany.
Key Investments Are Essential:
The example of Estonia demonstrates the importance of making difficult but necessary decisions, such as raising taxes, to finance defense. Artificial intelligence holds vast potential; an Estonian study shows that optimization through AI could significantly boost GDP. Europe has enormous growth and innovation potential if it acts decisively and creates the right frameworks.
Ambassador Giedrius Puodžiūnas highlighted the growing security challenges for Europe, stressing that Russia’s war of aggression has dismantled the transparency-based European security order. He called for swift action, stronger resilience, and substantial defense investments to effectively address these threats.
- Strategic Clarity: Europe must abandon its appeasement policies toward Russia, as evidenced by the failures of Minsk I and II.
- Support for Ukraine: Ukraine, with its security plan, is a critical partner in addressing threats near Europe’s borders.
- Strengthening the Defense Industry: Europe’s defense capabilities are fragmented, suffering from ammunition shortages and slow production. Unified standards and long-term contracts are urgently needed.
- Countering Hybrid Threats: Europe has only 5–10 years to prepare for increasing hybrid attacks.
Mr Puodžiūnas called for a clear signal of deterrence and emphasized the necessity of doubling Europe’s defense budget. He pointed to NATO as a benchmark: if all members spent 2% of their GDP on defense, an additional $60 billion could be mobilized. A budget of this magnitude could deter adversaries like Russia, as war would become economically unfeasible. Achieving this requires political will, long-term financial strategies, and innovative credit systems to strengthen Europe’s defense industry.
Ms Kerstin Petretto highlighted Germany’s challenges, emphasizing the strong link between economic prosperity and national security. As industrial production is projected to decline by 3%, concerns about economic stability and its impact on democracy are mounting.
- Geopolitical Risks: Hybrid threats such as cyberattacks and disinformation from Russia and China.
- Delayed Responses: A lack of strategic clarity and delays in supporting Ukraine weaken Germany’s position.
- Industrial Uncertainty: Fragile supply chains and volatile global politics demand decisive action.
- Public Awareness: Raising public awareness of political strategies is crucial to fostering resilience and innovation.
Ms Petretto urged Germany and Europe to promote innovation not only in technology but also in strategic thinking. She advocated for faster and more adaptive approaches in bureaucracy and defense, drawing inspiration from disruptive strategies like those of Elon Musk. Courage, unity, and collective defense efforts are essential to expand industrial capacities, overcome political fragmentation, and sustainably strengthen the defense industry.
She also emphasized that Germany’s defense policy, constrained by historical and structural barriers, requires reform. Excessive regulation and the stigmatization of the defense industry hinder production scaling, while dependence on NATO partners such as the US poses risks amid nationalist trends and declining transatlantic trust. Germany and Europe must jointly enhance their defense capabilities to ensure long-term unity and security.
Dr Laura Hirvi emphasized META’s longstanding commitment to AI research and its role in supporting Europe’s innovation ecosystem. While Europe excels in research thanks to its talent and universities, regulatory and financial hurdles hinder startup scaling, prompting many innovators to move to the US.
She criticized Europe’s excessive focus on regulation and lack of urgency in promoting innovation and digitalization. She called for a cultural shift toward greater appreciation of innovation and pragmatic deregulation to ensure competitiveness. She cited Ukraine as a model for swift and decisive action and advocated for a new narrative that empowers experts and accelerates change.
We thank our panelists for their engaging discussion and the Würth Haus for its generous hospitality.