Against a backdrop of heightened security tensions in Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday unveiled the long-awaited update to France’s nuclear doctrine, his first speech on nuclear deterrence since 2020.

During the speech, Macron set out his vision to broaden France’s nuclear umbrella across more of Europe, inviting neighbours to participate in deterrence exercises and offering to dispatch the French air force to the continent when needed.

“We are stepping into advanced deterrence,” Macron said at France’s Île Longue naval base in Brest, standing in front of a nuclear-powered submarine.

Six years ago, Macron argued that France’s vital interests had a “European dimension,” and he invited Europeans to join a “strategic dialogue” on the role France’s nuclear deterrence plays in Europe’s collective security.

Now – more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and just two days after US-Israeli strikes in Iran engulfed the wider region in a conflict – the French president went a step further, calling for a strengthening of France’s nuclear deterrent.

Under the new strategy, France will open up deterrence exercises to European allies and dispatch its strategic forces, including the air force, across Europe.

Eight European countries – Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark – have agreed to join these efforts, with Germany set to visit strategic sites and take part in joint exercises already this year, Macron announced.

Capitals quickly welcomed the initiative, with reactions from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever signalling they were ready to participate.

Shortly after the speech, France and Germany issued a joint statement establishing a “steering group” for closer cooperation on deterrence.

Earlier this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany was in confidential talks with France, and that Berlin and other European powers were discussing the establishment of a Europe-wide nuclear deterrence.

Increasing France’s arsenal

Macron also announced on Monday that France will increase its stockpile of nuclear warheads, currently estimated at around 300, without specifying by how many.

“We will no longer communicate on numbers,” Macron said.

A new ballistic-missile submarine, dubbed the Invincible, will also take to the waters in 2036. It would be France’s first third-generation submarine, as part of the process of replacing the current fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

But “this is not about entering into some kind of arms race. That has never been our doctrine,” Macron said.

In 1996, Paris gave up its land-based nuclear deterrent, leaving the country with nuclear-powered submarines and an air-based nuclear deterrent carried by its fleet of Rafale fighter jets, some of which are deployed on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.

(cm, aw)