ReArm Europe and the Rule of Law

The European Union’s (EU) rearmament policy has been largely defined in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Urgently needed financing and critical defence capabilities have been unlocked by the European Peace Facility, the Security Action for Europe Regulation and the Act in Support of Ammunition Production. However, these emergency measures have been aimed at achieving short-term goals, sometimes at the expense of comprehensive democratic oversight. This crisis-driven approach risks embedding structural weaknesses into long-term rearmament policy by eroding the EU’s constitutional safeguards. In this article, we identify significant due process and accountability gaps in the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) and the European Defence Omnibus by analysing these legislative proposals against rule of law safeguards as expressed in EU founding principles. We find that EDIP has deficiencies in four key areas: public procurement transparency, competence conferral, human rights impact assessment procedures and responsibility allocation for public-private partnerships. Addressing these shortcomings can contribute to democratic accountability and the protection of fundamental rights in an increasingly militarised EU, with implications for the Union’s commitment to the rule of law.
Keywords: EU ReArm; European Defence Industry Programme; rule of law; human rights; peace