ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030
This briefing analyses options for financing EU defence from a legal (in terms of what the EU Treaties permit), budgetary, fiscal and purpose-related perspective.
Defence policy
Italy’s Leonardo given £165m UK military helicopter contract
Extension to deal over Royal Navy’s Merlin fleet comes as government plans to increase defence spendingThe Italian defence company Leonardo has been given a £165m contract extension by the British government for its work maintaining the Royal Navy’s fl…
Now is not the time for the US or Europe to go it alone, warns Nato chief
Mark Rutte says US wants reassurance European allies will ‘step up’ while Europe needs to know ‘Uncle Sam still has our back’Nato’s secretary general has told the US and Europe it is “not the time to go it alone” amid reports that Washington and some E…
Keir Starmer faces PMQs before Rachel Reeves delivers spring statement – UK politics live
Chancellor is expected to announce further welfare cuts when she outlines departmental spending plansRachel Reeves will not be raising taxes in the spring statement today, even though there are many people on the left who would prefer taxes to rise as …
Ignored by Trump and menaced by Putin, the UK turns to the EU for defensive ties
As Trump seeks to withdraw the US from European defence, Keir Starmer is trying to develop closer ties with the UK’s neighboursDonald Trump’s isolationism and Vladimir Putin’s menace leaves post-Brexit Britain in a delicate position. While the combinat…
‘As real as it can get’: EU to loan €150bn for European defence from invasion
EU launches scheme to buy more weapons in Europe as Russia remains ‘a threat for the foreseeable future’Europe needs to be able to deter potential invaders by 2030, the EU executive has said as it launched a push to buy more weapons in the bloc and fro…
Former Bank of England deputy warns Rachel Reeves against kneejerk cuts
Charlie Bean says OBR forecasts are ‘flaky’ and cautions against trying to hit targets five years awayThe former Bank of England deputy governor Charlie Bean has warned the chancellor against making kneejerk cuts in next week’s spring statement to try …
Germany to reach out to France and UK over sharing of nuclear weapons
But Friedrich Merz cautions such a move could not replace the US’s existing protective shield over EuropeGermany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, has said he will reach out to France and Britain to discuss the sharing of nuclear weapons, but caution…
‘Military Keynesianism’? Reeves faces British defence dilemma after EU spending surge
Even Berlin and Brussels are bending fiscal rules in the face of Russia’s threat. Will the chancellor still stick to hers?As the Nobel laureate Robert Lucas quipped during the 2008 financial crisis: “I guess everyone is a Keynesian in a foxhole.” Donal…
‘Military Keynesianism’? Reeves faces British defence dilemma after EU spending surge
Even Berlin and Brussels are bending fiscal rules in the face of Russia’s threat. Will the chancellor still stick to hers?As the Nobel laureate Robert Lucas quipped during the 2008 financial crisis: “I guess everyone is a Keynesian in a foxhole.” Donal…