Europe must act with urgency, scale up its defence and security capabilities and become a true security provider. This is the key message from Renew Europe to EU leaders gathered at today’s extraordinary informal EU Summit.
Taking this leap forward means strengthening Europe's defence through collaborative military capabilities. It demands significant public and private investment, including with the European Investment Bank (EIB) playing a crucial role. We need to rapidly develop European production capacities to build a resilient, self-sufficient European defence industry and a true defence single market, driven by a "buy-European-first" approach. The time to start these investments is now.
Valérie Hayer, President of Renew Europe, said:
"Europeans must take an urgent leap forward on collective defence. Prompt decisions need to be taken to maintain European security. This requires immediate and strategic investments in European industries. Increased EU and national spending needs to be achieved in a more strategic and cooperative way. A true Defence Single Market can help on the road to beef up European defence industries."
On the participation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Valérie Hayer added:
"The UK is an invaluable ally, and Prime Minister Starmer’s participation today is most welcome. An ambitious new EU-UK security and defence partnership would send a strong and united message to our adversaries, reinforcing our shared commitment to European security."
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Renew Europe MEP (FDP, Germany) and Chair of the Committee on Security and Defence, commented:
"This EU defence summit is crucial as EU leaders have finally acknowledged the growing threats to Europe.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s participation shows we need a broader European path. Europe must rethink military procurement together, with more support from the European Investment Bank. This is a step toward an EU defence union built on trust and shared values. Europe must be capable of defence based on its own strength."
