Willem van der Leegte speaks at the first Benelux Defence Industry Day

Good morning everyone, excellenties.

It is a privilege to be here today and to briefly share my perspective with you.

We are living in highly turbulent geopolitical times. Crises are unfolding one after another, increasing uncertainty. While societies and businesses are striving for stability and predictability, European governments are calling for greater resilience.

Wir schaffen das.

The ambition is right. However, what is still lacking is a truly coordinated execution strategy—and without that, the outcome remains uncertain.

Leaders of major countries outside Europe increasingly govern their countries with a business mindset. What we are seeing today is that this approach is fundamentally strengthening and changing global competitiveness. Meanwhile, Europe is in in general only slowly beginning to move out of its state of denial.

Competitiveness will be the defining global challenge of the coming decades. And it should therefore be our number one priority in Europe.

The United States is repositioning itself towards Europe. This may feel like a shift in friendship—but fundamentally, it is about economic interests. Recent developments have made this very clear: defense as a means to achieve economic prosperity has been elevated almost to a form of art.

Our relationship with the United States can still be described as an alliance—but increasingly, we also see each other as competitors. Europe remains dependent on the US in several critical areas, particularly in security, defense, and high-tech services such as digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

China on the other hand presents a different kind of paradox. It is both a key trading partner and a systemic rival. European consumers are becoming increasingly dependent on the “factory of the world.” Moreover, when it comes to critical raw materials as well as key components used for innovation—such as future energy solutions —Europe currently imports up to 98% from China.

Given these dependencies on both the US and China, there is only one way forward:

Structural and coordinated European cooperation.

Cooperation in foreign policy, defense policy, energy policy, and industrial—or rather innovation—policy.

Let me add that I am, by principle, in favor of open markets and level playing field. However, now that the US is systematically raising tariffs and China continues to flood our market with low-priced goods, we must be willing to take firm countermeasures.

Without that, a “China shock 2.0” could leave deep and lasting scars. If we stop producing ourselves, we lose knowledge—and capital will soon follow. The impact is already being felt across the industry. We simply do not have time, to lose.

Costs for businesses in the Benelux are rising to extreme levels. With some of the highest labor and energy costs in the world—combined with increasingly complex and costly regulation—our competitive position is under growing pressure.

Many of these challenges come down to a simple principle: when supply decreases relative to demand, prices rise.

The common denominator here is scarcity. Over decades, instead of addressing these issues, we have allowed them to accumulate: energy, housing, emission rights, water, industrial land, talent, etc.

These are long-standing challenges—predicted in advance but insufficiently addressed.

Ultimately, you could say that our greatest scarcity today may well be a lack of decisiveness.

And our governments cannot solve this alone.

That is why strong cooperation between governments, knowledge institutions and businesses is essential.

Europe’s greatest strengths lies in our values: our human rights and our democracy. But we lack the strategic power to defend them adequately. This makes us vulnerable. We have also learned that diplomacy without strength is not effective. Europe is becoming a paper tiger—and one without teeth.

Even if these important values do not always lead to fast decision-making or immediate competitive advantage, they are fundamental and must be protected at all times.

Objectively, Europe is a global powerhouse: the EU has the world’s second-largest population and second-largest economy, combined with relatively low levels of debt.

Yet geopolitically, we are struggling. Largely because we still feel—and act—defensively weak, despite having the world’s second-largest defense budget. The real issue is therefore not scale, but fragmentation and a lack of coordination.

Our spending is too dispersed, driven by national interests. The United States develops one main tank platform; Europe operates more than ten. And while we are making progress in cooperation, major initiatives—such as the FCAS fighter jet project between Germany, France and Spain—have already collapsed due to incompatible differences. The most probable result is: increased dependence on the US rather than less.

The EU is now moving towards an additional €800 billion per year in defense spending. Around 30% of that will be spent on equipment. However, approximately 80% of that equipment is sourced outside Europe—of which 80% again comes from the US.

In practical terms, this means more than €150 billion annually flowing into the American economy. The equivalent of a few million jobs.

This alone is reason enough to urgently build our own European defense industrial base. Over the past decades, we have effectively consumed too much of our “peace dividend” without reinvesting sufficiently in strategic capabilities.

The former Dutch Minister of Defense described VDL Groep in 2025 as “the flagship of renewed cooperation between defense and industry.”

And indeed—our industries can adapt. Transformation is possible. We have proven that ourselves: moving from buses production to industrial housing modules, from car production to defense manufacturing.

When we talk about “dual-use,” we often think in terms of products—civilian versus military applications. But the true strength lies in dual-use of capabilities. The ability to rapidly shift production—from civilian to defense and back—across industries is what creates real resilience. Today we produce cars; tomorrow we can produce for example drones.

Innovation is, of course, a key part of the solution. Staying ahead through innovation is the only way to remain relevant and to create leverage with the rest of the world.

Investing in innovation means investing in resilience.

Governments must urgently invest in infrastructure, talent development, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Political courage is needed to make difficult but necessary decisions.

Innovation and entrepreneurship go hand in hand with initiative and risk-taking. It requires creativity, problem-solving, perseverance, and vision. It is about creating value and taking responsibility. And above all, it is about strength through cooperation because only together we are able to succeed.

And that brings me back to the core message:

Coordinated European cooperation is key.

And who is better positioned to accelerate this cooperation—particularly in defense? The Benelux?

It starts with us.

History has shown this time and time again.

Despite being relatively small, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have had a disproportionate impact on Europe.

We pioneered the customs union. Free movement of goods, people, capital, and services—what later became the foundation of the EU.

The Benelux Treaty of 1958 was the testing ground for Schengen and the single market. If it worked here, Europe dared to scale it.

History shows that deeper European integration often starts with the Benelux. When France & Germany hesitate, the Benelux—together with the Nordics—often form a ‘coalition of the willing, the coalition of the doing’.

It is the right moment now to once again take the lead.

We need stronger alignment and cooperation in foreign policy, energy, industry, innovation, and defense—with clear agreements and clear coordination.

I therefore call upon all of us here today - and upon policymakers in our home countries— and the first steps are being taken to develop an integrated Benelux defense strategy.

A concrete plan that answers key questions: who buys what, who produces what, how do we fit the pieces together?

Today’s reality demands urgency and speed. Legal complexity cannot be allowed to delay action when our security and freedom are at stake.

At a time when geopolitical competitors increasingly use defense as an economic instrument, we must protect our prosperity, our well-being, and our future earning capacity.

In the Benelux, we are pragmatic and result-driven. We tend to avoid grand moral statements without execution.

We prefer to prove, rather than to promise:

This is a call for true action, because vision without execution is also known as: hallucination.

I wish you an inspiring day.

Thank you for your attention.