ENAAT Newsletter 2024-03: “Bullets not bees”

Our latest News from the Brussels’ Bubble is now out: ENAAT NBB 2024-03_31.05.2024

SUMMARY

EU funding for the arms industry

– Negotiations for new EU defence industry programme likely to face delay
– EU defence Fund: results of 2023 calls
– EDF: naval & space technology dominate, 2024 calls shift towards conventional warfare
– EIB revise rules to ramp-up defence investment, Nordic bank to follow suit?
– Ukraine: European and Ukrainian arms industry met in Brussels to boost cooperation
– EU Defence Agency mandate expanded to joint procurement and military interests in all policy-making

Other aspects of EU militarisation

– Leaked EU strategic agenda: “bullets not bees” says Politico
– Letta report calls for common defence market and “innovative finance”
– European Defence Industry Summit: arms lobbyists and EU leaders are best buddies
– EU conclusions on security and defence and EU-Norway defence partnership
– Schuman Security and Defence Forum

Peace facility and related news

– EU Rapid Deployment Capacity & MILEX 2024
– EPF and Ukraine: ‘technical’ and Hungarian blockages

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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