It was a symbolic act but one that reflects the new era. The French president, Emmanuel Macronwent this noon to lay the first stone of a new gunpowder factory for explosives Bergerac, in the department of Dordoa, and this afternoon he will meet representatives of defense companies. The goal is clear: revive the industry and raise awareness of the need to rearmin the face of the Russian threat and in an increasingly complex geopolitical context.
Macron defends that we must move to a «war economy«, as he himself called it. This translates into greater investments in armaments. The French government has increased the military budget of 400,000 million in four years and now the goal is to relocate the production of defense material, where they have stopped producing France do it again.
This rearmament «is a need of the momentof the geopolitical reality in which we will live.» «We are in a moment of geopolitical, geostrategic change, in which defense industries will have an increasingly important role,» said Macron. «This world we talk about will not stop if the war ends tomorrow, because there is a massive rearmament (…) of Russia and why everywhere in Europe the military spending it’s increasing,» he recalled.
THE invasion of Ukraine revealed a weakness: Europe does not have enough industry to face a major war. After the invasion, companies tried to adapt to an unexpected pace of business growth, but failed. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned that they will lose the war if they do not receive more support. The congress of United States of America has been blocking aid for months 60 billion.
France defends a strategic independence knowing how to face current challenges. As of 2019, half of the weapons imported from the EU are produced in the United States. France has become the second largest exporting country in the world, mainly thanks to its fighters Rafal. According to data from the Institute for Peace Research, material purchases by the EU have doubled (Sipriin its acronym in English), based in Stockholm.
“We must produce more and faster,” Macron said at company headquarters Eurenco, European leader in the production of gunpowder for projectile propulsion. This space was dismantled in 2007 due to lack of orders. Today they are complete until 2030. The company, which belongs to the state, is now key in the supply of ammunition to Europe. The factory will be operational in 2025 and will have the capacity to produce 1,200 tons of gunpowder per year.
The group has factories in France, Sweden, Belgium AND United States of America and will invest 500 million euros in two years to multiply its production by 10. The construction of this factory «shows that there are no problems with the industry», said Macron, accompanied by economy ministers. Bruno Le Maire; and Defense, Sebastiano Lecornu.
Macron insists that Russia is hardening its positions and that it cannot win the war because that would leave Europe in a weak position vis-à-vis Moscow, which could invade any other country. Weeks ago, at the conference in support of Ukraine organized in Paris, the Frenchman suggested that a future deployment of troops to the area should not be ruled out.
His words were not liked, most countries denied this point and accused him of being too belligerent. Days later, the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tuskadmit that Europe is «in a pre-war moment«. The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholzhe also called for accelerating large-scale weapons production to feed Ukraine.
Although it constitutes the main threat, it is not unique to Russia. THE war in Israel and the fear that conflict will spread to the region, and the possibility of that happening Donald Trump winning the US election next November are other reasons for concern.
In January Macron criticized the sector, saying that until before the invasion it had enjoyed «numbness». The defense minister had already warned last week that he could seize factories if companies did not produce fast enough. A measure could also be used that allows companies that produce civilian and military material to give priority to the latter.
