The paper was adopted by the Executive Committee following a meeting of industriAll Europe’s Defence Network, where 45 trade union representatives from across Europe met in person and online to exchange views on the rapidly evolving situation in the defence sector.
With defence dominating the political agenda, understanding what is happening on the ground has become increasingly difficult. While announcements of new investments and ambitious programmes continue to multiply, the reality in factories often tells a different story. Trade unions, through their presence on the shop floor, are uniquely placed to distinguish political rhetoric from industrial reality and to assess the real impact on production, employment and working conditions.
The new position paper reflects this experience. It argues that the unprecedented levels of public funding being mobilised for defence must be accompanied by strong social and local content conditionalities to ensure that public money strengthens Europe’s industrial base while creating quality jobs.
Recent setbacks in major defence programmes—including the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) and the F126 frigate programme ordered by the German government from Damen—highlight the need for greater transparency, accountability and realistic industrial planning. These examples demonstrate why policymakers must work more closely with industry and social partners when designing large-scale defence projects to ensure that political ambitions are matched by industrial capabilities.
The paper also provides an analysis of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) in light of the European Commission’s recent defence initiatives, including the €800 billion ReArm Europe plan.
The position paper calls on European policymakers to:
- Strengthen Europe's industrial base by supporting the entire defence value chain, including strategic sectors such as steel, chemicals, electronics and raw materials.
- Invest in European production, ensuring public funding supports manufacturing and quality jobs in Europe rather than imports.
- Build long-term industrial capacity through sustained investment in production, skills and financing.
- Protect workers' rights, ensuring the defence ramp-up does not come at the expense of health, safety or working conditions.
- Support industrial diversification, including dual-use production, to strengthen Europe's resilience.
- Adopt a broader approach to security, recognising that economic resilience, social cohesion and the green and digital transitions are essential for lasting peace.
- Attach strong social and local content conditionalities to all public defence funding.
While recognising the need to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities, industriAll Europe warns that current proposals focus too heavily on rapidly increasing spending. Without a comprehensive industrial strategy, there is a significant risk that much of the funding will be used to purchase equipment from third countries instead of supporting production in Europe.
Europe’s defence industry cannot expand overnight. Decades of underinvestment and fragmentation mean that increasing production requires new manufacturing facilities, modern equipment and, above all, skilled workers. Recruiting, training and retaining these workers requires stable long-term investment, coordinated industrial policies and adequate financing tools.
"Increased production must not come at the expense of workers’ rights. Trade unions across Europe are already reporting growing pressure on the workforce through additional shifts, agency work and longer working hours, increasing health and safety risks. The solution is not to weaken working time protections but to recruit more workers by offering secure, attractive and quality employment" said Isabelle Barthes, IndustriAll Europe's Deputy General Secretary.
"Europe’s security cannot be reduced to military preparedness alone. Economic security, strong industrial value chains, social cohesion and continued investment in the green and digital transitions are equally essential to Europe’s long-term resilience," concluded Isabelle Barthes.