NBB 2025-4: EU hard power taking shape through funds and loans

 

 

The latest issue of the ENAAT newsletter ‘News from the Brussels’ Bubble’ is now available here.

Summary: 

EU funding for the arms industry

  • EC proposes fivefold increase for the military in 2028-2034 EU budget
  • EDIP and “defence sovereignty”
  • SAFE: €127bn in loan request, possible violation of EU treaties?
  • EDF benefiting Israeli Aerospace Industries
  • EP and Council included “defence capabilities” in Cohesion policy
  • EIB Triples Defence Lending with €3 Billion Boost

 

Other aspects of EU militarisation

  • European Council: NATO hangovers and defence bank idea
  • Defence Readiness Omnibus unveiled, still not enough for arms industry
  • EU-Canada Defence partnership and possible access to SAFE, more to come?

 

EU Peace Facility and related news

  • Ukraine: more military support while exporting?
  • EPF to support Senegal and Cabo Verde
  • EU on Israel: too little too late, legal case against EU

 

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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