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

OSDE 2026

2 June 2026

Who profits from EU subsidies for the arms industry? Find out below which countries and companies benefit the most from the EU Defence Fund (EDF) and the Ammunition fund (ASAP), and where they export. More information and detailed data are available in the public platform Open Security Data Europe Companies European Defence Fund (EDF) After the first three years of the EDF, about a thousand different entities (companies, research institutes, universities, government agencies and a few CSOs) have received funding. It is clear that a large portion of the money goes to a small set of large arms companies.

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09/06 at 6pm: “Breaking the consensus on EU funding for rearmamament” online conference

21 May 2026

ENAAT, GDAMS & StopReArmEurope invite you to an Interactive Online Conference***A militarised garden: Breaking the consensus on EU funding for rearmament * June 9 2026 at 18:00 CEST The session will begin from a practical observation: Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who challenge the current policy direction -particularly the rapid growth in certain spending priorities- represent a small minority, which limits their influence. Against this backdrop, the discussion will move beyond simple opposition and instead focus on more constructive and strategic exchange, structures around two main pillars:1) Understanding the MEPs’ perspective:Why do many MEPs feel that there

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Civil society calls on policymakers to prevent the weakening of arms exports control

8 May 2026

Today, +25 civil society organisations urge decision makers to prevent arms export control systems from being weakened under the pretext of ‘simplification’ and ‘efficiency’. The negotiations on the EU omnibus package relating to defence are well advanced and about to conclude, including on the proposals modifying the Transfer directive regulating intra-EU arms exports. Weapons and military technology cannot be sold like toys or cans of beans, and EU governments are the ones responsible for ensuring compliance with European and international law, in particular the EU Common position on arms exports, the Arms Trade Treaty and the Convention on

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