NBB 2025-5: ‘EU ready for war by 2030’ plans

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

Summary: 

EU funding for the arms industry

  • SAFE’s €150 billion loans: useless EP complaint and access to non-EU firms
  • Negotiators aim for final agreement on EDIP by early October
  • No Israeli suspension from Horizon Europe, Rafael may (not?) lose EU funds

Other aspects of EU militarisation

  • EU ready to war by 2030? Roadmap and European Defence Semester, drone wall
  • Defence omnibus: exports rules evaluation & cohesion funds opened to arms industry
  • “EU defence spending hits €343 bln in 2024, EDA data shows”
  • EU-Japan Security & Defence Partnership includes industrial dialogue

EU Peace Facility and related news

  • Ukraine: EU countries (still) resist reimbursing US weapons with EPF
  • Djibouti Armed Forces to receive €10 million from EPF, further €15 million to Albania

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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