EDTA: A stop on investments in defence innovation and military capabilities?
About a year ago the issue of Environmental, Social and Governance criteria occurred in the Defence industry. These criteria form the basis for corporate social responsibility. Suddenly, some companies could not attract investors anymore. Others reported they were even refused to get a regular bank account. Why was military equipment becoming that much unattractive in the financial sector? It turned out that the change in attitude occurred due to a new expert group of DG GROW of the European Commission. This Platform on sustainable finance was established in October 2020. It published a draft report on Social Taxonomy in July 2021 and a final report in February of this year. The intention of the report is that private investors should no longer invest in companies where more than 5% of their turnover is generated by socially undesirable products, like tobacco, gambling, fossil fuel and Defence. We are in good company! This limitation is intended to become in effect in June 2...