European Council agrees on substantially increasing spending on Europe’s security and defence
The European Council stresses the need to continue to substantially increase expenditure on Europe’s security and defence, according to the official conclusions of a special meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on March 6.
The meeting was called against the background of Trump administration policies on Ukraine and Russia, and to discuss continued support for Ukraine and European defence.
“Europe must become more sovereign, more responsible for its own defence and better equipped to act and deal autonomously with immediate and future challenges and threats with a 360° approach,” the European Council conclusions, published on the Council of the EU website, said.
“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its repercussions for European and global security in a changing environment constitute an existential challenge for the European Union,” it said.
The EU will “accelerate the mobilisation of the necessary instruments and financing in order to bolster the security of the European Union and the protection of our citizens”.
The EU will reinforce its overall defence readiness, reduce its “strategic dependencies”, address its critical capability gaps and strengthen the European defence technological and industrial base accordingly across the Union “so that it is in a position to better supply equipment in the quantities and at the accelerated pace needed”.
This would also contribute to boosting European industrial and technological competitiveness, the Council conclusions said.
The EU leaders welcomed the intention of the European Commission (EC) to recommend to the Council the activation, “in a coordinated manner, of the national escape clause under the Stability and Growth Pact as an immediate measure”.
They called on on the EC to explore “further measures, taking into account the views of the Council, while ensuring debt sustainability, to facilitate significant defence spending at national level in all EU member states”.
They also called on the EC to propose additional funding sources for defence at EU level, and to “swiftly” present these proposals.
The conclusions said that the EU leaders “took note” of the EC’s intention to propose a new EU instrument to provide EU member states with loans backed by the EU budget of up to 150 billion euro. This proposal should be examined “as a matter of urgency,” the document said.
The EU leaders welcomed the recent letter by the President of the European Investment Bank Group and the plans therein to step up its support for Europe’s security and defence industry while safeguarding its operations and financing capacity.
They called on the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to urgently continue to adapt the EIB’s practices for lending to the defence industry, “notably by re-evaluating the list of excluded activities and by increasing the volume of available funding in the field of security and defence”.
On Ukraine, the text in the document on the conclusions was “firmly supported” by 26 out of 27 EU heads of state or government. Thought not identified in the document, the exception was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The conclusions on Ukraine said that the European Council underlined the importance of five principles.
The first was that there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine.
The second, that there can be no negotiations that affect European security without Europe’s involvement: “Ukraine’s, Europe’s, transatlantic and global security are intertwined”.
Any truce or ceasefire can only take place as part of the process leading to a comprehensive peace agreement, the conclusions said.
Any such agreement “needs to be accompanied by robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine that contribute to deterring future Russian aggression”.
The fifth principle was that peace must respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Achieving ‘peace through strength’ requires Ukraine to be in the strongest possible position, with Ukraine’s own robust military and defence capabilities as an essential component,” the conclusions said.
“This applies before, during and after negotiations to end the war.”
It said that the EU remains committed, “in coordination with like-minded partners and allies” to providing enhanced political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people, and to stepping up pressure on Russia, including through further sanctions and by strengthening the enforcement of existing measures, in order to weaken its ability to continue waging its war of aggression.
The EU will continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support.
The EC and EU member states should “use all options” under the Ukraine Facility to increase financial support to Ukraine.
The document said that the European Council reviewed work done on the delivery of military support to Ukraine.
“In addition to the funds already committed for Ukraine for this year, it welcomes the readiness of member states to urgently step up efforts to address Ukraine’s pressing military and defence needs, in particular the delivery of air defence systems, ammunition and missiles, the provision of necessary training and equipment for Ukrainian brigades, and other needs that Ukraine may have,” the document said.
“The European Union and Member States are ready to further contribute to security guarantees based on their respective competences and capabilities, in line with international law, including by exploring the possible use of common security and defence policy (CSDP) instruments. Security guarantees should be undertaken together with Ukraine, as well as with like-minded and Nato partners.”
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