TEDAE president warns of what is at stake in European elections
The Spanish Association of Defence, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technology Companies (TEDAE) has just presented ‘urbi et orbe’ what it has dubbed its ‘Political Manifesto’ in view of the general elections being held in Spain to elect MEPs.
The document describes what it calls ‘TEDAE's position before the 2024-2029 political cycle of the EU’, which includes the main objectives and lines of action proposed by the four sectors that make up the industrial fabric of national security. They do so on the eve of the renewal of the European Parliament and the European Commission, which will take place after the elections on 9 June.
The ‘Political Manifesto’ was presented by the President of TEDAE, Ricardo Martí Fluxá, and the Vice-Presidents for Security and Space, Jorge Potti and María de la Malla, respectively. The three of them have outlined the recommendations that the association proposes from a Spanish perspective to give greater strength to the common industrial policy and the regulatory framework to promote European technological development.
Essentially, the document made public in Madrid on 6 June is the Spanish point of view of another document with a similar structure and content, also described as a ‘Policy Manifesto’ and entitled ‘Policy Recommendations for EU Political Cycle 2024-2029’. But it was released three months ago, on 5 March, by the Brussels-based European Association of Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries (ASD).
This association brings together more than 4,000 companies and organisations from the European Union - including TEDAE - but also from European countries outside the EU, for example Norway, the United Kingdom and Turkey. According to ASD's own data, its members account for 98% of the companies in the Old Continent working in the four sectors, which in 2022 had a total turnover of 258 billion euros.
Opening the doors to public and private financing
TEDAE brings to ASD just over a hundred companies and a turnover of 12,135 million euros, but, according to the entity itself, ‘plays a crucial role in the consolidation and development of strategic sectors for the economy and national security (...) and the international projection of Spain’.
The Manifesto that TEDAE has just brought to public light as representative of the four industrial sectors has already been transmitted to the different political groups and also to the institutions - Martí Fluxá confirms - and we are having meetings with the spokespersons for Defence, Industry, Science and Technology of the parties to communicate the feelings of the industry and that the defence programmes ‘are long and require budgetary stability‘.
The president of TEDAE stresses what he knows is at stake in the European elections. He pointed out that this is the first time that war conflicts ‘are not taking place in a distant country, where you have to look at a map to find out where they are, but are just a car journey away from Spain’.
He stressed that, in the new geostrategic framework, for the first time all European political parties, in one way or another, are emphasising collective security. Thus, in order to achieve a European Commission that is ‘agile and aligned with the traditional values of European civilisation, for the first time we are telling those who are going to vote that it is very important who you vote for’, Martí Fluxá stressed, without alluding to any preference.
In the aeronautical framework, the association supports both ‘emerging technologies in urban mobility and the roadmap towards climate-neutral aviation, which we have been working on for many years’. And it emphasises public financing through the European Investment Bank (EIB), ‘which was previously absolutely forbidden and which, by opening this door, we are sure that commercial banks will also support this type of investment’.
Without forgetting research and innovation
The Vice-President of TEDAE, representing security companies, María de la Malla, considers the creation of a European Security Fund to be ‘essential’, in order to develop an industrial security policy and consolidate major cross-cutting projects. As fundamental objectives, she highlights the need to support the ‘strengthening of technological sovereignty, the reduction of foreign dependence in strategic areas and investments in cybersecurity and the protection of critical infrastructures’.
It also emphasises ‘promoting’ vocational training and talent, since ‘in Spain and throughout the EU there is a shortage of students and professionals’. It is a problem ‘that is important and urgent to address’, a point on which he agrees with the Vice-President of Espacio, Jorge Potti, who calls on Brussels to ‘bring the budget cycle into line with ambitions’. ‘If Europe wants to play a role in space, it needs to strengthen its commitment and raise the level of investment‘.
investing in the European programmes Galileo (satellite navigation) and Copernicus, which he described as ‘the EU's flagship programme dedicated to caring for the planet and the climate’. But he stressed that we must not forget ‘to add new large-scale programmes in the field of security, both in communications and in the protection of space assets’.
As an industrial sector that contributes 1,065 million euros to TEDAE as a whole and is ‘smaller than others’, Jorge Potti stressed, it is necessary to ‘pay special attention to its structure’, which requires both public and private investment policies, an area in which we are ‘a little behind other space powers’. He insists on ‘moving towards greater autonomy and competitiveness of the European space industry and resolving access to space in a more structural way in order to be able to embrace global markets’
In the specific sector of defence products and systems manufacturing companies, the TEDAE document advocates sustainable research and innovation, promoting regulated European exports on a global scale, optimising production and distribution processes and ensuring adequate investment in technologies. It seeks to support the continuation of the Common Procurement Act for the Strengthening of the European Defence Industry (EDIRPA), facilitating joint military procurement and the continuation of the ‘Security and Defence’ chapter in the next Brussels Multiannual Financial Framework.
