NBB 2025-1: REARM Europe plan, deeper into the rearmament race

This new edition of our ‘News from the Brussels’ Bubble’ focuses on the REARM Europe plan, intending to bring European militarisation to a different scale.

Read it here: NBB2025-1, 07/03/2025

summary:

EU funding for the arms industry
– Negotiations on EDIP still stalled one year after proposal publication
– EDF 2025 prioritise ground systems, incl. mass production of kamikaze drones
– “EU defense industry lobbying soars” – Politico confirms findings of our 2023 report
– “Omnibus for defence”, or how to facilitate arms dealers’ business, including exports?
– EIB coming shift in lending policy: all but lethal weapons and no more ceiling

Other aspects of EU militarisation
– REARM Europe Plan: projections up to €800 billion in next 4 years, yet not enough?!
– EU-UK security and defence partnership soon on track… And what about the nukes?

EU Peace Facility and related news
– New military aid package to Ukraine failed consensus at European special summit

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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