EU wants to shut US companies out from competing for their programs?

via Defense News.

The top Pentagon official attending the Paris Air Show this week made clear she would use the venue to make a declarative statement about a subset of European arms funding: Either give the United States the ability to compete for work, or risk retaliation.

The U.S. Defense Department is concerned about restrictions that would limit its ability to participate in the Permanent Structured Cooperation initiative, otherwise known as PESCO — a group of projects spearheaded by the European Union, as well a €13 billion (U.S. $15 billion) pool of money for military programs known as the European Defence Fund.

“As we read the language right now, even European-based subsidiaries of U.S. corporations, with European facilities and European employees, would not be allowed to participate with intellectual property exchange and a number of other issues of programs that grow out of EDF and more importantly PESCO,” Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said Monday during a roundtable with reporters at the air show.

Story here.

Wow.

I don't think I'm actually heated by the EU wanting to make this move.  We've been banging on them to increase their defense spending and this is a natural reaction to that news.

Their desire is purely rational.

If they're gonna spend their citizens tax money on military equipment,  then they should be building the equipment at home, not buying it overseas.

What do you guys think?  In my opinion this should have been a predicted response.