Ms Dinka Dinkova:

Of course, we are not in any way underestimating the risks of climate change or other risks facing our societies. We are not ranking the risks here. We have to be clear about the role of the Commission. We have proposed that legislative decision-making is in the hands of the European Parliament and Council. This provides a facility for member states that wish to do so to use parts of their underused cohesion money to invest in security and defence capabilities. We are talking about strengthening industrial capacity, supporting projects of European defence interests and fostering military mobility, but also about opening opportunities to invest in skills and workforce development tailored to the defence sector, ensuring the long-term competitiveness and innovation of the whole industrial fabric of countries.

Maybe some countries assess the security risk as higher than others. Therefore, there is a special emphasis placed on supporting eastern border regions, which face immediate and maybe heightened security challenges. The decision as to whether the money will be spent on security and defence challenges is in the hands of the member states.