Sovereignty, relocalization, mass production: These words have been part of French people's daily lives for five years now. They first appeared during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, which revealed the fragility of the country's healthcare system, and came into their own following the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022.
"We're entering a war economy," announced Emmanuel Macron, four months later. "This is going to force us to invest more, for States, to be more demanding with manufacturers; for the latter, to be even more innovative, faster; to sometimes change the mode of relations to be able to respond much more quickly to needs and help to have equipment that corresponds to the needs – sometimes in the short-term – of the army."
Since then, this notion has come back into the limelight, giving rise to multiple interpretations, including the most anxiety-inducing perspectives. Hence the importance of defining it. "The war economy, as it is considered today in France, is not a wartime economy, but an economy that prepares itself not to suffer in the event of a crisis," clarified the top military procurement official, Delegate General for Armaments (DGA) Emmanuel Chiva, on December 4, 2024, during a hearing at the Assemblée Nationale. "This obviously involves the economic stakeholders in defense, but not only [them]. It also means moving from a model from a time of peace dividends to a commitment model, which, unlike previous years, can be probable and, above all, not chosen."
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