"Krone" commentary

War economy

Analyzes for the "Krone": Andreas Mölzer(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

It was recently reserved for Thierry Breton, the EU Industry Commissioner from France, to publicly call for Europe to finally "switch to a war economy". Primarily to close the gaps in the supply of the Ukrainian army and, of course, to maintain the EU's defense capability.

ON THE ONE HAND, it would make perfect sense for the Europeans not to buy their armaments from the Americans in future, but to produce them themselves in the EU. And strengthening our own defense capabilities is also a welcome project.

OTHERWISE, the term "war economy" alone should make us more than just uneasy. We should know what this means from our fathers' and grandfathers' generation. The conversion of the production of civilian goods to the production of weapons and munitions. The issue of ration cards for the purchase of basic foodstuffs. The compulsory delivery of all agricultural products. In general, the regimentation of all civilian life according to the requirements of the military.

Well, that's probably not what Mr. Breton meant. But even among the war supporters at EU headquarters in Brussels, one should be a little more careful when choosing words.

Otherwise, the next EU Commissioner might ask the media: "Do you want total war?"