“The era of the peace dividend is long gone”. With these words, in Brussels today Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, opened the presentation of the White Paper on Defence and the ReArm Europe/Readiness 2030 plan. President von der Leyen stated: “The era of the peace dividend is long gone. The security architecture that we relied on can no longer be taken for granted. Europe is ready to step up”. Von der Leyen then pointed out: “We must invest in defence, strengthen our capabilities, and take a proactive approach to security. We are taking decisive action, presenting a roadmap for ‘Readiness 2030’, with increased defence spending, important investments in European defence industrial capabilities”. President von der Leyen explained that weaponry shall be increasingly bought from European companies, “because that means strengthening the European defence technological and industrial base. That means stimulating innovation. And that means creating an EU-wide market for defence equipment”. The measures announced today aim at responding “to the short-term urgency of supporting Ukraine, but also to address the pressing long-term need to boost Europe’s security and defence”. The ReArm Europe plan is described as “an ambitious defence package providing financial levers to EU Member States to drive an investment surge in defence capabilities”. The White Paper, instead, “frames a new approach to defence and identifies investment needs”.