EU defends military reforms against US attack

The EU on Thursday defended its push to reform the European defense industry in a retort to US accusations that the overhaul would shut out allies such as Washington from European projects.

The skirmish over military spending comes as transatlantic ties are at a long-time low with fears running high that cooperation at NATO could be endangered.

In a letter seen by AFP, two senior officials said that the European Union "remains fully committed to working with the US as a core partner in security and defense matters" despite the planned changes.

However, the EU officials also insisted that the mooted reforms are merely a reflection of rules already imposed by the US.

"The transatlantic trade balance is resolutely in favour of the US," they insisted.

The US concerns, set out in a letter on May 1 from two of President Donald Trump's top defence officials, focused on the European Defence Fund (EDF), a seven-year 13-billion euro (USD 14.6 billion) pot approved by the European Parliament last month, and a key new EU defence cooperation pact known as PESCO.

Washington warned the proposed rules "would not only damage the constructive NATO-EU relationship we have built together over the past several years but could potentially turn the clock back to the sometimes divisive discussions about EU defence initiatives that dominated our exchanges 15 years ago."