
EU countries pooling tens of billions of their defence spending into a joint EU fund could help finance necessary flagship projects and close capability gaps faster, the incoming head of Europe's largest defence industry association told Euronews, recognising it would however require political leadership.
Micael Johansson, the CEO of Swedish defence and security company Saab, said on Wednesday that steps taken by the European Commission to turbocharge defence spending in the EU go in the right direction but that more needs to be done to facilitate countries and companies developing and acquiring new systems together.