Defence commissioner role needs industrial policy focus - analysts

Christina Kessler, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform (CER), agrees that a defence industry commissioner would be appropriate in the next mandate, "not just because there is obviously work to be done in this area, but also because it would signal that the EU is taking this seriously and is willing to step up its game".   

..."Looking at what the EU is currently doing there, it doesn't really seem like a super big portfolio," says Kessler, noting that the European Defence Agency (run by the EU's foreign policy chief) and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Defence, Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) are quite small.   

More likely, according to the CER analyst, is that the Commission will "prop up" this portfolio with powers over areas such as cybersecurity - although space could also be an option to make the position more attractive, with DG DEFIS opening in 2019 to focus exclusively on the space and defence industry.