There was no worse moment. While the executive seems to finally become aware of the urgency of an industrial start in defense, Airbus, Safran and Thales almost were excluded from the CAC 40 ESG by Euronext, on the pretext that they work for the defense sector. An incomprehensible red card, in total contradiction with the ambient discourse. Fortunately, faced with the media outcry and the mobilization of the oppositions which went up to the niche, the government was forced to intervene, pushing Euronext to retreat in extremis on his decision.
But the simple fact that this exclusion was considered a lot about the state of mind that plays our economy: subject to the dogmas of green finance and the dictates of well-thought, it prevents France from best guaranteeing the protection of its vital interests. The executive never repeated the words so much “Strategic autonomy”, “War economy” And “Increase in the defense budget”. However, our defense industry has never been so threatened.
This paradox illustrates obvious: when we speak of defense, only acts count. Res non -verba. To paraphrase General de Gaulle, it is not enough to jump on his chair like a cabri while shouting “War economy” to make it exist. A nation that wants to protect itself begins by taking concrete measures to defend its industry, and particularly its defense industry.
Absurd standards and lack of support
The United States has understood this for a long time. Any company working for the army is considered strategic. In the country of Uncle Sam, banks and investors abundantly finance the defense industry, with the support of the state. Blackrock, Carlyle or KKR inject billions into military groups, to the point of being present in the capital of 90 % of the major players in the sector.
“Many defense SMEs, however vital for our sovereignty, struggle to open a simple bank account”
Meanwhile, France, as usual, is grueling in absurd standards and is reluctant to support its own strategic companies. The envisaged exclusion of Airbus, Safran and Thales of the CAC 40 ESG is a symbol of this deep evil. On the grounds that these companies would not be enough “Virtuous” According to environmental, social and governance criteria, they find themselves deprived of funding, in clear: it is the reign of morale that prevails over the national interest. Who would dare to ask today a Ukrainian soldier who fights for his country if his weapon is eco-responsible?
EDF also paid the price. After announcing an irradiation service to produce tritium, essential for nuclear deterrence, some banks have planned to give up its debt, lest it be assimilated to a producer of armaments.
Worse, many defense SMEs, however vital for our sovereignty, are struggling to open a simple bank account. This is the case of the start-up Elika Team, specialized in linguistic engineering for the security forces. Praised by the army and the police, she was faced with multiple banking refusals, thus slowing down the development of technologies requested by our forces.
The chimerical idea of a “defense Europe”
As if that were not enough, our own bureaucracy is responsible for completing what the financiers dismiss. While the United States and China build the tools of its domination for the coming century, France, it prevents the construction of defense factories … to protect local species. This is the absurd reality of the war economy in Macron sauce: martial speeches, but a bureaucracy that disarms the country.
And this national scuttle is accompanied by another scourge: the illusion of a chimerical “Europe of defense”. Instead of reasoning in terms of French sovereignty, Macron advocates “thinking in European”. It is to ignore the fact that 80 % of European armaments purchases are outside the EU, mainly in the United States. Our businesses are therefore threatened with the triple penalty: loss of funding, loss of markets and acceleration of unfair competition. To finance defense Europe is in the short and medium term to finance the American defense industry with the money of the French to rearm Germany.
Today, you have to do exactly the opposite. France has the first defense industry of the European Union, with champions like Dassault, Thales, Safran, Mbda or Airbus. This sector represents 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, 4,000 SMEs and ETIs in connection with armaments, 10 % of French industry, 20 % of national R&D and 11 % of property exports. According to the circle of economists, each euro invested in the defense generates double in ten years. This economic and industrial lever is a chance for France, for employment, for our trade balance and for our sovereignty. Let’s not spoil it!
“Our industrial and technological defense base must be a national power engine”
Because depending on foreign armaments means accepting an unacceptable risk. The United States, via the ITAR regulation, can remotely block or deactivate a sold material. The Australian submarine affair has proven that alliances are fluctuating and that even a historic partner can betray its commitments. The coming to power of Donald Trump recalled it, but this reality pre -existed under the administration of Barack Obama or Joe Biden. An ally can be today and more tomorrow, can be in certain areas, and become a competitor, even an adversary, in others. This state of affairs requires prudence, a virtue that the current executive seems to have forgotten.
Go out of dogmatism
Our industrial and technological defense base must be a national power engine. Where some have abandoned the idea of a strong and independent France, we believe that our industrial engineering is a great opportunity to reindustrialisation, economic boom and reconquest of our sovereignty but also of strategic alliance because France allows free use of the weapons it sells.
As we have the experience of the disastrous consequences of the European Commission policy on our agriculture, our electrical sector, deliberately saboto, and our industry. It is up to us more than ever not to leave in the hands of Brussels technocracy control of our defense, a strategic domain par excellence for our sovereignty.
We refuse the fatality of the downgrading. To restore France the means of its defense, we propose to exclude the defense industry from ESG constraints in order to guarantee its access to private and public funding. We agree to the creation of a French sovereign fund of defense to support innovation and the rise of our industrialists. It is essential to establish a “Buy French Act” in armaments purchases, like American protectionism which can also be completed by a “Buy European Act” at European level. It is also necessary to drastically simplify the regulations to accelerate the production and modernization of our infrastructure. But above all, we have, as Marine Le Pen has offered since 2012, reaching at least 3 % of our GEP dedicated to national defense.
It is time to get out of the dogma of Europe of Defense and to refocus our efforts on pragmatic cooperation between states sharing our interests, as shown by the Franco-British Alliance. Those who think that France is no longer able to weigh and would be forced to the supervision of Brussels, Washington or Moscow are the agents of defeatism. With Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, on the contrary, we believe in the power of France. Where Emmanuel Macron embodies renunciation, we hope.
