European commission head says EU needs defense union

DAVOS, Switzerland

The European Union has set up the building blocks of a defense union but needs credible military prowess to respond to crises, the European Commission president said Wednesday.

"There is a European way to foreign policy and foreign security policy where hard power is an important tool – but it is never the only one," Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We must also do more when it comes to managing crises as they develop," she said, saying this is about Europe shaping its own future.

Reflecting on the Berlin meeting on Libya which she attended, she said Libya is bearing the cost of division and hesitation.

"The European Commission will support the process towards reconciliation and reconstruction," she added.

According to her, it was good to see that the international community took an important step in the right direction.

"It takes very little power to break a fragile balance. The true power lies in putting the pieces back together," she added.

During the last decade, Europeans learned the importance of a stable neighborhood, she underlined, giving examples from Ukraine to the shores of the Mediterranean, from the Western Balkans to the Sahel.

"We have learned the importance to invest more in long-term stability and to prevent crises," she noted.

According to the EU website, the possibility of a common defense policy is enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty's Article 42.

The European Defence Fund will be fully operational in 2021. Meanwhile, EU funded defense cooperation is already materialising with precursor programs.