The Defence and Security Department's Politics & Technology Working Group has prepared suggestions for the election manifestos for the November 2023 elections to the House of Representatives.
Early elections to the House of Representatives will be held on 22 November 2023. Based on the technological knowledge of its members and experience of engineers, our working group has drafted suggestions for the Defence paragraph in the election programmes of the political parties. The main line is that Defence must be put back in order: not only to put the armed forces in order, but also to bring technological developments and the national defence industry up to desired levels. This is also important for proper protection of our national interests.
1. Catch up. The years of neglect of Defence necessitate catching up. Not only to put the armed forces in order, but also to bring technological developments and the national defence industry up to the required level. In the Netherlands, this involves catching up in terms of real estate such as barracks, innovation and large weapon systems. The norm that at least 2% of GDP should be spent on defence should be leading.
2. Open strategic autonomy in Europe on security and defence is of growing importance. Better European cooperation in the defence industry is necessary for this. To play a serious role in European and NATO defence, it is also important for the Netherlands to make a strong contribution to this. Therefore, prepare the Dutch defence industry for more intensive European cooperation. Retain companies of vital importance to the Netherlands and encourage innovative companies that can excel in Europe. This applies in particular to self-creating naval construction in the Netherlands.
3. Large weapon systems. The army should be further strengthened with battle tanks and missiles with a range of up to 300 km, the air force with additional fighters and drones, and the navy with additional frigates and submarines. Completion of maritime missile defence capabilities and protection of North Sea infrastructure and other special areas of concern listed below should be prioritised.
4. Task specialisation. However, the Netherlands does not have to do everything itself. Task specialisation and European cooperation must be central to the defence of the future. This implies dependence on third parties that together should be complementary. To this end, trust in European partners needs to be strengthened. To start with, the EU must develop a concept of how specialisation is distributed among countries, including industrially.
To ensure a level playing field, this requires much better coordination of arms export policy in the EU. Dutch arms export policy should be seamlessly aligned with that of the other EU member states.
5. Funding. In order to realise other important goals in the areas of climate, education, care, etc., it is desirable to introduce other forms of financing for large defence investments in addition to government budgets, as already happens frequently in the rest of the economy. Pension funds and other institutional investors can then also contribute to our security. The Valstar motion (2022) can form the basis for this.
6. People and technology. With the current and future shortage of personnel, it is very important to continue building an innovative, high-tech and, above all, labour-extensive armed forces. More automation, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems can help.
7. Special areas of focus. Better protection of data traffic, critical infrastructure (including in the North Sea), cyber security are of great importance for the stability of Europe and Dutch autonomy. The Netherlands should strive for a very good level of protection in these areas. Among other things, through the well-thought-out deployment of artificial intelligence and space technology. Scientific research and innovation are of great importance here and should be reduced to the norm level of 2% of the Defence budget.
8. Energy transition. This major transition is also important for Defence. Not all civilian technologies are suitable for application in the armed forces. Targeted research and development for specific Defence applications is necessary. Given the lifetime of large weapon systems, a modular and flexible approach to existing and future energy carriers and associated systems is desirable.
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The Hague, 28 July 2023
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Disclaimer: The facts and opinions given are based on open sources and on the knowledge and experience of working group members.
This is not an official position of KIVI. The association accepts no liability for anything put forward by the working group or its members.
Photo: Lower House
