PRAGUE, June 9 (Xinhua) - At the DESCOP Defence and Security Conference here on Friday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU needs an common security and defence policy, only the soft power is not enough to ensure security in the present world.
Juncker stressed that it is not the question of whether the EU should strengthen its ability to face threats, but how fast it would do it. The key to security on the continent is cooperation with NATO, but European countries should play a stronger role and be able to act independently.
In today's world, a strong NATO, a strong European Union and a strong relationship between the two, are more important than they ever have been before, said Juncker. Current threats - whether war conflicts, cyber attacks, or terrorism - demand that EU member countries convert the idea of defense cooperation into reality.
Juncker said the soft power in itself is not powerful enough in an increasingly militarised world, there is the need of a credible EU defence policy. He said a European Security and Defence Union will help protect the EU, of which three quarters of Europeans are in favour. In the 1950s, attempts to move towards common defence have been part of the European project, said Juncker.
For the defence of EU, Juncker said it is important to make sure that EU spend what is needed on its defence. The EU spends half as much as the United States on the defence but even only achieve 15 percent of their efficiency. That is both inefficient and costly.
Juncker said the EU needs to invest more, and invest in a more efficient way. The European Commission proposed a European Defence Fund for making the European Union the biggest investor in collective defence research and technology in Europe.
At the DESCOP conference, Juncker, EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini and NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller agreed that the need for deeper defence cooperation stems from the increasing threat. They said Europe must take care of its own defence more than before and strengthen its own capabilities as it cannot keep relying exclusively on NATO forces.
Juncker arrived in Prague on Thursday to attend the DESCOP conference which was attended by representatives of NATO and the EU.
