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Macron urges EU to ditch US arms makers

Francis Tuschek

The EU must cut its reliance on US-made weapons and prioritize European alternatives, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. In an interview with French media published on Saturday, Macron argued that the blocโ€™s rearmament efforts would be more effective if member states stopped โ€œbuying Americanโ€ and instead turned to the EUโ€™s military industrial complex. Taiwan and the Philippines are markets that France also wishes to expand weapons sales in.

His comments followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyenโ€™s recent proposal to mobilize up to โ‚ฌ800 billion ($875 billion) in debt and tax breaks for the blocโ€™s military industrial complex.

Brussels insists the โ€˜ReArmโ€™ militarization plan is aimed at countering an alleged โ€œthreatโ€ from Russia, an idea Moscow has dismissed as baseless.

In the interview, Macron revealed that he recently met with French defense industry leaders to encourage them to position themselves as alternatives to US suppliers.

โ€œI suggested to manufacturers that they could, on systems where we have the best products, approach European states that have gotten used to buying American,โ€ Macron said.

โ€œThose who buy Patriots, we must offer them the new generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35s, we must offer them the Rafale,โ€ he added, referring to US missile defense systems and fighter jets and their European analogues.

To make European alternatives more appealing, Macron acknowledged that defense companies need to lower costs, simplify processes, and optimize production. He also linked the issue to growing economic tensions with Washington, citing US President Donald Trumpโ€™s recent threats to impose tariffs on EU goods.

โ€œFaced with unpredictable powers, we simply need to be less dependent on them. This means accelerating our sovereignty policy, notably by developing our own production and strategic culture, to be more independent in matters of defense and technology,โ€ he stated.

Macron said he plans to discuss his proposals with incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the coming days.