Defence minister wants industry agreement with regions before summer
Federal Defence minister Theo Francken wants to see a cooperation agreement signed between the federal government and the regions on strengthening Belgium's defence industry before the summer.
The new federal government's plans provide for a sharp increase in the defence budget. Whether the increase will be enough for international partners will become clear in the coming weeks or months.
The current ambition is to bring defence spending up to 2 per cent of GDP by 2029, and to 2.5 per cent by 2034. Part of this will be done through a structural increase through the budget, but another large part will go through a new Defence Fund.
"We need to increase and accelerate our military production as soon as possible"
Francken earlier expressed his ambition to build an “ecosystem” around defence. In the current geopolitical context, “we need to increase and accelerate our military production as soon as possible”, he said.
The regions already play an important role in that domain. “As federal minister, I will work with them to strengthen the resilience of our society and further anchor our defence industry,” he said.
“It is a strategic asset for Wallonia, Belgium and Europe to have a quality industrial base around defence,” said Walloon minister-president Adrien Dolimont following a meeting with Francken and Walloon economy minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet in Namur. “I am pleased that the minister of dDefence is relying on Walloon assets to strengthen the sector in Belgium.”
Theo Francken has said the Audi Brussels manufacturing site could serve for military production. “I really want to try to work out that dossier with Belgian and foreign companies,” he said.
Walloon minister-president Adrien Dolimont and federal Defence minister Theo Francken © BELGA PHOTO BRUNO FAHY
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