European Commissioner Andrius KUBILIUS in Vilnius, Lithuania at the Anniversary of the Magna Charta Universitatum MCU2020

04:39 - 17:45

Andrius Kubilius

And our Copernicus is the best satellite observation in the world. When I am saying our, it means European Union constellations. Copernicus provides data that we share freely with the whole world, because sharing knowledge is power. And this is just the beginning. We will see people on the moon again, exploration of Mars and beyond, a booming orbital economy, factories in space, solar energy from space, and mountains of space data.

Space will be part of all aspects of our daily lives. And again, universities are the source of this big bang and its leader. You are the pioneers shaping space technology, using space data to analyse climate change, pollution and agriculture, to understand and improve our world, but also analysing the social and economic consequences. And here is a big challenge for Europe. We risk falling behind.

We need a big bang, for example, when it comes to rockets and launch. There is a big gap between what we need to launch and the launching opportunities we have. We need to very rapidly increase how many rockets we can launch and have new types of rockets that can return and be reused. And there will be no space big bang without universities. You educate the engineers and do the research that will power the space revolution.

Why I was talking about space, because I am Commissioner for Defence and Space. And now about defence, few words. Third big bang: defence. To keep the peace on the European continent, we need a defence big bang. Nearly 1,000 universities have signed the Magna Charta Universitatum and more joining today.

Russian universities were suspended in 2022 because they betrayed the principles of the charter by openly supporting Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine. The situation is not improving. Russia is escalating and is still not being deterred. Next year Russia will allocate 180 billion euro for its military budget, a 33% increase. In purchasing power parity terms, Russia next year will spend the same amount or even a little bit more than all the EU member states are going to spend together, around 500-550 billion euro.

Russia is still outproducing us. If day X comes, we will face a battle-tested Russian army able to use 10 million drones per year, that is around 30,000 drones per day, with a war economy and a stronger army than they had in 2022. Russia is preparing for a long war and confrontation. Our goal is peace. To deter aggression and prevent war.

As ancient Romans were saying, if you want peace, prepare for the war. That is why since I started as Commissioner, I called for a big bang in defence. We have succeeded in achieving a financial big bang, big European loans for defence, member states pledged to NATO to spend close to 6 trillion euro for defence in 2035.

Now we need to create a production big bang. But it all starts with the power of ideas. Many of our Commission proposals are based on foundational works of research and thinking. The famous Letta, Draghi and Niinistö reports on the economy and security, to name but three of those reports. Recently, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the idea of the European Security Council as part of new defence architecture on the European continent.

And this idea was first discussed in think tanks and academic debates. I have taken part in many of such discussions. My point always was very simple. There will be no material big bang in defence without intellectual big bang in defence, and that is why we depend on our universities. And we depend on you for defence innovation.

We have some of the best universities in the world. Some of the best technical universities. Some of the best researchers in the world and brightest students. Universities are where ideas are born and where innovation starts. They are the birthplace of the next generation of startups in defence and space.

There is a growing need for technical and engineering skills in many sectors of society, including defence and space. And universities can help to develop these skills. But it's not only about the sciences. Also humanities, economics and social sciences. What you are researching today is European policy tomorrow.

And we should not forget that universities not only study society, but are also part of the society. The title of this year's celebration of the Magna Charta Universitatum is Beyond Resilience. For resilient societies, we need resilient universities. Here in Lithuania and other member states, there is a concept of total defence. Defence readiness involving all the society.

Integrating security into all aspects of university life. Not only encouraging engineering or innovation, but also, for example, first aid training for students. Education to counter disinformation. So the next issue I want to discuss, the power of unity. In Europe, our greatest weakness is division.

Our greatest strength is unity. Would the Magna Charta Universitatum be stronger if each university signed their own statement, or if one thousand universities signed it together? Very similar question. Would the United States be weaker or stronger with fifty separate armies, fifty defence policies, fifty budgets? In Europe, we have twenty-seven armies, twenty-seven defence policies and twenty-seven defence budgets.

Because historically and according to the EU treaties, defence is a national prerogative. And now we need to bring more unity in all areas of our defence readiness. I always say there are three kinds of defence readiness. First, material defence readiness, that is the power of money, the power of production. Second, institutional defence readiness, the power of organisation, how we are organising ourselves, how we organise our defence on the European continent.

And third, political defence readiness, our willpower to fight, defend, deter against Russian threats and hybrid attacks. First, we are bringing unity in our institutional defence readiness. I mentioned already the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a European Security Council. Because I quote her State of the Union address. Our doctrine, our institutions and our decision-making have not kept pace with the new reality.

Our systems were made for a different world. They are driven by well-intentioned attempts at consensus and compromise.

But we need to consider whether they are still fit for the purpose. End of quote. A very clear call for big bang reforms in our institutional defense readiness because we face a crisis of the status quo in today's defense architecture on the European continent. More will be made clear in our security strategy that we expect to present soon. And here we need also Europe's academic community because I am sure there will be a big debate.

So now we need your knowledge and wisdom to help shape our future defense architecture. And above all, we need your independent and critical perspective as outlined in the Charter. Second, we are bringing more unity in our material defense readiness. To defense against ballistic missiles, what would be more effective? 27 missile defense systems or one continental system integrated with NATO?

Israel has its Iron Dome, the United States looking how to build Golden Dome, what about European Dome? In the past, it was difficult to imagine something like this, but now we're starting to change things. And learning a lot from Ukraine. With the new legal instruments, we're making pan-European defense projects possible, called European Defense Projects of Common Interest. Projects that no country can build alone, but that defend the entire Union.

26 member states with Norway and Ukraine are joining, for example, forces on drones and counter-drones. 13 member states with Norway and Ukraine also are working together to develop so-called Eastern Flank Watch project to guard Europe's eastern border. But two big problems in our unity have got to do with two of our greatest European achievements. Still, these two do not apply to defense. Our single market and free movement.

It is difficult to understand. With our single unified market, we're second economy in the world with a GDP of nearly 20 trillion euro. The single market is the foundation of our economy, of our prosperity, and our success. But not when it comes to defense. There we have 27 different defense markets.

Our fragmented defense market undermines our defense readiness and our ability to deter aggression. And prevents our defense companies from becoming global leaders. We will soon present proposals on the defense market because we need to start mobilizing the power of our single market for our defense. And again, here we shall need a lot of intellectual big bang. And the same is true for freedom of movement.

There is freedom of movement, but not if you are a soldier. Freedom of movement is the best-loved right of Europeans. Around 15 million Europeans live and work in a different member state. That is twice the population of the Baltic states put together. And many of them are academics and researchers of universities.

Our universities depend on freedom of movement. And our students on Erasmus love free movement. On top of that, every year Europeans make nearly 250 million trips to other European Union countries. But we have a paradoxical situation.

It is easier for a tourist on a Schengen visa to move through Europe than for a NATO soldier. Some member states ask for 45 days advance notice before moving troops. It can take months for soldiers and equipment to move from the west of Europe to here, Europe's eastern flank and our first line of defence. We are now bringing unity here too. We launched new military mobility rules to cut red tape and mobilise the power of free movement for our defence.

And I hope member states and the European Parliament will approve these proposals still this year. But again, here is very much, very big need of intellectual understanding of the issues. Finally, we need unity in our political defence readiness. That is our willingness as a society to defend ourselves. Russia is trying to undermine this willingness with threats and hybrid attacks.

On the European level, we have initiatives to improve security, including cybersecurity. In her State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a European counter-hybrid playbook and an emergency security protocol to deal with threats below armed aggression. But we cannot build resilient societies without society itself. And nor can we build it from above. And that is why the Magna Charta Universitatum is so important.

A clear assertion of what you stand for, a commitment to unity, a commitment to shared values, shared goals and a shared future. The title of this celebration in Vilnius is "Beyond Resilience". And that is certainly appropriate for universities. If we look at some of the countries represented in the audience: Oxford and Bologna, over 900 years old. Jagiellonian University in Poland, nearly 700 years old.

Leuven University in Belgium, 600 years old. Universities of Leiden in the Netherlands, Vilnius and Malta, between 400 and 500 years old. Universities are some of the oldest institutions in Europe, older than some countries. Universities survived disasters, dictatorships and wars. You are among the most resilient institutions we have.

So it is not I who can teach you about resilience. It is you who can teach me and all of us a lot about resilience, because it all starts with the power of ideas. Thanks a lot.