EU, UK agree defense partnership as prelude to tighter cooperation

PARIS – The European Union’s executive arm and the United Kingdom agreed on a security and defense partnership which they said will allow for closer cooperation in areas such as support for Ukraine, and which may open the door for U.K. companies to benefit from an EU plan to boost defense-industrial spending.

Based on the partnership, the U.K. and the European commission should “swiftly explore any possibilities for mutually beneficial enhanced cooperation” created by an EU proposal for a €150 bilion (US$169 billion) loan program for defense procurement, according to a joint statement on Monday.

Officials including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in London on Monday to repair some of the ties severed by the U.K. leaving the EU in 2020. The U.K. is home to Europe’s largest defense firm, BAE Systems, and EU plans to boost joint defense procurement within the 27-nation bloc risked leaving the British defense industry out in the cold.

“This will boost our cooperation in security and defense initiatives,” von der Leyen said in a joint press conference in London with Starmer and European Council President António Costa. “This is the first step towards U.K. participation in Europe’s defense investment program. This security and defense partnership opens the door towards the joint procurement.”

The agreement will help the EU and the U.K. boost cooperation in areas such as supporting Ukraine, security and defenses initiatives that include the defense industry, military mobility, space security, strategic consultation, cyber issues and countering hybrid threats, the parties said.

“Whether on defense, counterterrorism or building peace, we will both gain from working closer together,” Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top official for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a post on social media , following the meeting in London.

Beyond security and defense, the commission and the U.K. discussed issues ranging from cross-border travel for young people to energy cooperation, fishing rights, food standards, working together on law enforcement and migration.

The EU and the U.K. “face a volatile and increasingly challenging security environment in Europe and in its broader neighborhood, as demonstrated by Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine,” according to the partnership agreement. “The UK and the EU share a responsibility for the security of Europe.”

The partnership will reinforce the European contribution to NATO, the agreement said. The parties will look into the possibility of setting up an “administrative arrangement” between the U.K. and the European Defence Agency, according to the 11-page document published by the Brits – or 12 pages in the EU version .

Such an arrangement, which typically governs mundane but vital guardrails for exchanging information, would be a prerequisite for including the British in existing EDA-managed development schemes.

The EU and the U.K. also plan to boost cooperation in a number of areas around maritime security, including security aspects of maritime autonomous surface vessels.

Last week, the U.K. and Germany said they’ll work together a new long-range strike capability with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers, in a move that will reinforce NATO deterrence and boost the U.K. and European defense industries.

The capability will be developed within the European Long-range Strike Approach or ELSA, the six-country coalition of France, Germany, Poland, Italy, the U.K. and Sweden, German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——欧盟执行机构和英国就安全和防务伙伴关系达成一致，双方表示，这将使双方在支持乌克兰等领域开展更紧密的合作，并可能为英国公司从欧盟提高国防工业支出的计划中受益打开大门。

根据周一发布的一份联合声明，基于双方的伙伴关系，英国和欧盟委员会应“迅速探索欧盟提出的1500亿欧元（1690亿美元）国防采购贷款计划所带来的任何互利增进合作的可能性”。

包括欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩和英国首相基尔·斯塔默在内的官员周一在伦敦会晤，旨在修复英国在2020年脱欧后造成的部分关系破裂。英国拥有欧洲最大的国防公司BAE系统公司，而欧盟计划在27个成员国之间加强联合国防采购，这可能会使英国国防工业被排除在外。

冯德莱恩在伦敦与斯塔默和欧洲理事会主席安东尼奥·科斯塔举行的联合新闻发布会上表示：“这将加强我们在安全和防务领域的合作。这是英国参与欧洲防务投资计划的第一步。这一安全和防务伙伴关系为联合采购打开了大门。”

双方表示，该协议将有助于欧盟和英国加强在支持乌克兰、安全和防务倡议（包括国防工业、军事机动性、太空安全、战略磋商、网络问题和应对混合威胁）等领域的合作。

欧盟外交与安全政策高级官员卡娅·卡拉斯在伦敦会晤后于社交媒体上发帖称：“无论是在国防、反恐还是建设和平方面，我们双方都将从更紧密的合作中受益。”

除了安全和国防之外，委员会和英国还讨论了从年轻人跨境旅行到能源合作、捕鱼权、食品标准、在执法和移民方面开展合作等一系列问题。

根据该伙伴关系协议，欧盟和英国“面临着欧洲及其周边地区动荡且日益严峻的安全环境，俄罗斯对乌克兰发动的无端且毫无正当理由的侵略战争就证明了这一点”。“英国和欧盟对欧洲的安全负有共同责任。”

协议称，此次合作将加强欧洲对北约的贡献。根据英国方面公布的这份11页文件（欧盟版本为12页），双方将探讨在英国和欧洲防务局之间建立“行政安排”的可能性。

这种安排通常规范着信息交流中一些琐碎但至关重要的保障措施，是让英国参与现有由EDA管理的开发计划的先决条件。

欧盟和英国还计划加强在海上安全多个领域的合作，包括海上自主水面舰艇的安全方面。

上周，英国和德国表示，他们将合作研发射程超过2000公里的新型远程打击能力，此举将加强北约的威慑力，并促进英国和欧洲国防工业的发展。

德国国防部长鲍里斯·皮斯托里乌斯周四表示，这项能力将在欧洲远程打击方案（ELSA）框架内发展，ELSA是由法国、德国、波兰、意大利、英国和瑞典六个国家组成的联盟。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。