ENAAT Newsletter 2024-01: “war & borders before climate & foreign aid”

The first 2024 issue of our newsletter “News from the Brussels’ Bubble” is out.
Read it here: ENAAT NBB 2024-01_09.02.2024

 

SUMMARY:

EU Funding for the arms industry
– Public consultation on EU Defence Fund review is open till 21st February
– 2024 EDF calls to focus on next gen-helicopters & cargo planes, hypersonic threats and unmanned/autonomous systems
– Political deal on extra €1.5 billion for EDF, what is left from Sovereignty Fund project
– Failed ammunition target, Norway to access ASAP & EDIRPA
– EDIS, EDIP, €100 billion fund for defence industry cooperation… What is really going on?
– EIB has new boss, launches €175 million risk investment programmes in defence

 

Other aspects of EU militarisation
– Military mobility: 38 new projects worth €807 million
– Deal on 2021-2027 EU budget revision: war & borders before climate & external aid
– Horizon Europe’s successor to fund dual-use research projects with military application?

 

EU Peace Facility & related news
– EPF on the verge of bankruptcy, weapons supply audit and tracking
– New Ukraine weapons fund still in the making, +20.000 soldiers to be trained
– ASPIDES, The new “defensive” EU mission in the red Sea, is agreed

more news

NBB 2026-2, EU militarisation going wild

27 March 2026

From dedicated funding programmes to diverting civil funds, from deregulation facilitating the business of arms to wave of security & defence partnerships, EU militarisation is going wild in 2026… Read our latest newsletter here: NBB 2026-2, 27/03/2026 SUMMARY: ENAAT news > Global Days Against Military Spending (GDAMS) Campaign to run from April 10 to May 9 > ‘US fighter jets: backbone of European air forces’ – StopWapenhandel blog EU support for the arms industry > Deregulating the arms industry: negotiations and EP calls for single market for defence > A SAFE 2.0 in the pipeline, Polish veto, French frustration

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The competitiveness trap: How EU ‘simplification’ fuels a global arms race

3 March 2026

This piece was first published as an Opinion article on EUobserver, ‘How the EU is deregulating arms-control to be like any other industry‘ For most citizens, terms like “simplification” and “harmonisation” sound positive. However, within the Brussels’ EU “bubble,” they are used as a Trojan horse for massive deregulation. Specifically, a new legislative package—the Defence Readiness Omnibus—threatens to overhaul how weapons are produced and sold, creating a dangerous precedent for global security. As “Trilogue” negotiations begin under the Cyprus EU Presidency, the stakes could not be higher. Under the guise of “completing the internal market” for defence and

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NBB 2026-1: Quiz, which of the EU institutions is the most arms-industry friendly?

22 January 2026

From EP’s early Christmas gifts to EC outbids to counter EDA’s revival, one wonders which of the EU institutions is the most arms industry-friendly…Read our latest newsletter here: NBB 2026-1, 16/01/26 SUMMARY ENAAT news > “Europe’s Hidden Hands: Funding and Arming the Genocide in Gaza” (Webinar series 26/01 & 02/02) > Stop Wapenhandel Blog: Weakening arms transfers rules in the name of ‘security’ and ‘competitiveness’ > Increasing concerns about civil society watchdog role at EU level > Citizens’ initiative asking the EC to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement EU support for the arms industry > EDIP & SAFE:

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