The House of Representatives is debating the Dutch defense industry today. The war in Ukraine has painfully exposed defense shortcomings, so an “active industrial policy” is needed, Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in the House of Representatives.
The coalition has not yet agreed on the form of the so-called defense industrial strategy. The question remains whether efforts should be made to strengthen our defense or to strengthen cooperation in this area within Europe.
The VVD sees more in strengthening the Dutch defense industry. D66 wants to focus on European cooperation. According to political journalist Leendert Beekman, the position of the CDA and the ChristenUnie is not yet clear. ‘The CDA indicates it is still between the two options. ChristenUnie has not yet taken a position and is not present at today’s debate.’
International cooperation
The Netherlands can do a lot when it comes to small matters, says former army commander Mart de Kruif. “But when it comes to big things like ships, we can build them ourselves, but you’re still bound by an obligation to make arrangements about them. That’s the problem.’
Defense equipment is procured in consultation with other countries such as Germany, but there must be cooperation in the production of equipment. ‘The Netherlands can no longer do everything by themselves. Also, the Netherlands is at the back of the line when we have a request for something, so the question of what we ourselves as the Netherlands should be able to produce is very important,’ says De Kruif.
Lots of talk
There must already be a lot of discussion in The Hague about the decisions to be made. When decisions have to be made at the European level, it takes a long time, says Beekman. And that’s a problem. According to Peter Valstar of the VVD, European cooperation looks great on paper, but in practice it is disappointing due to the various wishes of the 28 European member states.
Diminish
De Defense has been significantly downsized in recent years, meaning the industry no longer represents much, says De Kruif. Also, it will easily take ten to fifteen years for good capacity to build up again. That building up the defense takes so long raises questions about whether the defense has done it right in the past, according to De Kruif. “We took the skeleton away from the military.”
Furthermore, the defense must be managed differently, says De Kruif. ‘It will be very difficult to revive the defense industry in the short term. You will only see the effect of what you do now in five or ten years. We are already too late to implement changes quickly.’ That is why De Kruif advocates greater stability and long-term defense plans.
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
