The coalition agreement shows a serious and welcome ambition to make the Netherlands more resilient in an uncertain geopolitical context. The structural financial anchoring, the focus on innovation and technology and the strengthening of European cooperation show that defence and security are finally getting the priority they deserve. However, the limited focus on defence personnel in the agreement does not do justice to the special position of the military and the demands placed on them. However, this ambitious programme does prompt suggestions as to the practicalities and some underexposed aspects.
Our working group's main suggestions are to reconsider the 5 NL knowledge areas in innovation, as they are too long-term oriented. A Dutch "DARPA" does not seem effective to us. A European "DARPA" is.
For funding, it is important to remove regulatory barriers and place the risk with the party that can bear it, as this lowers the cost of capital. Sometimes that is the government.
On personnel, our working group believes that the impeding factor is not the mindset of people at Defence and companies, but the still rigid laws and regulations. We further advocate the introduction of continuous learning lines in defence-related technology, from MBO to WO.
For European cooperation, strategic enablers are important. These very large projects, which no EU member state can afford financially, could be financed through Eurobonds, provided they are jointly owned and jointly used, just like the NATO AWACS aircraft.
For protection of (vital) infrastructure and populations against drones, the roles and responsibilities seem insufficiently clear and the technical capacity to withstand attacks is lacking.
Cabinet-Jetten balcony photo CC-BY-SA 4.0
