UK, Netherlands, Finland in talks to set up defense investment bank

PARIS — The United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, together with several other countries, are in talks to set up a financial institution that would provide funding for joint multi-year defense projects, similar to the European Investment Bank but focused on defense.

The participating countries would provide capital to the institution that could serve as a guarantee for issuing bonds, the Dutch Ministry of Finance told Defense News in an emailed reply to questions. The NATO allies involved are exploring setting up the new mechanism by 2027, the U.K. Treasury said on Tuesday .

The mechanism would complement existing NATO and European Union initiatives, the countries said. The European Union’s €150 billion Security Action for Europe defense loan program doesn’t cover non-EU countries such as the U.K. and Turkey, while NATO’s procurement agency and Europe’s OCCAR armament cooperation organization coordinate purchasing but don’t raise funds on capital markets or issue debt.

The multilateral defense mechanism being discussed “at its core functions as a bank,” the Dutch finance ministry said. “Based on paid-in capital and committed capital, it can issue bonds that can be purchased by investors, thereby acting as a lever. Funds can be used to finance joint projects, tenders, and procurement.”

While the financial institution has yet to be established, the goal is for more efficient cooperation through multiyear joint defense projects, scaling up defense industries and joint buying of defense equipment, the Dutch finance ministry said.

If such an institution materializes, it could potentially reduce European countries’ reliance on national budgets for defense financing, create defense bonds as an asset class, and ease the need for EU-wide consensus that has hobbled the discussion around defense financing.

The scale of the defense investment challenge for Europe is such that there is “significant headroom” between current spending and NATO targets, and multiple instruments are needed to close the gap, Finland’s Ministry of Finance told Defense News, saying the aim is for “clear complementarity” with existing EU and NATO initiatives.

The multilateral mechanism would link funding to joint procurement, and can help accelerate cooperation and achieve economies of scale, including with non-EU partners such as the U.K., according to the ministry. It would provide a single platform for finance and defense ministries to cooperate, the Netherlands said.

The mechanism “can provide financing in areas of the supply chain where scaling up is often difficult due to lack of financing, such as small and medium-sized companies,” as well as provide long-term support to Ukraine, according to the Dutch ministry.

Finland said it’s in talks to “lay the groundwork” for the defense financing mechanism, and commitments to the process will require political decisions at a national level. Participating from the beginning will give Finland an opportunity to influence what such a mechanism could look like, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said.

The mechanism will offer a new way of defense cooperation between European partners, and is open to “like-minded Western partners” both inside the European Union as well as outside, Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen said in a statement.

“By joining forces, we get more security with the same resources and we strengthen our alliances as well,” he said.

The initiative would drive joint defense buying through multinational financing, Finland said, with the U.K. Treasury saying that “challenging times for global security call for creative solutions .”

The idea of the mechanism is to generate a return that would flow back into the financial institution, increasing capital and thus expanding lending capacity, the Dutch ministry said. The institution would work in a similar way to the EIB or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, “but with a specific focus on defense.”

The multilateral defense mechanism is open to other countries, and “we specifically extend the invitation to Western allies to join,” the Netherlands Ministry of Finance said.

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——英国、荷兰和芬兰以及其他几个国家正在商讨成立一家金融机构，为联合多年国防项目提供资金，类似于欧洲投资银行，但专注于国防领域。

荷兰财政部在回复《防务新闻》的电子邮件中表示，参与国将向该机构提供资金，这些资金可作为发行债券的担保。英国财政部周二表示，参与的北约盟国正在探讨在2027年前建立这一新机制。

各国表示，该机制将对现有的北约和欧盟倡议起到补充作用。欧盟1500亿欧元的“欧洲安全行动”防务贷款计划并不涵盖英国和土耳其等非欧盟国家，而北约采购机构和欧洲军备合作组织（OCCAR）虽然负责协调采购，但并不在资本市场筹集资金或发行债券。

荷兰财政部表示，正在讨论的多边防御机制“其核心功能类似于一家银行”。“该机制以实缴资本和承诺资本为基础，可以发行可供投资者购买的债券，从而发挥杠杆作用。这些资金可用于资助联合项目、招标和采购。”

荷兰财政部表示，虽然该金融机构尚未成立，但其目标是通过多年联合国防项目、扩大国防工业规模和联合采购国防装备，实现更高效的合作。

如果这样的机构得以建立，它可能会减少欧洲国家对国家国防预算的依赖，创造国防债券这一资产类别，并缓解欧盟范围内就国防融资问题进行讨论时所面临的共识障碍。

芬兰财政部告诉《防务新闻》，欧洲面临的国防投资挑战规模巨大，目前的支出与北约目标之间存在“相当大的差距”，需要多种手段来弥合这一差距，并表示目标是与现有的欧盟和北约倡议实现“明确的互补”。

据荷兰国防部称，这一多边机制将把资金与联合采购挂钩，有助于加快合作并实现规模经济，包括与英国等非欧盟伙伴的合作。荷兰方面表示，该机制将为各国财政部和国防部提供一个合作的统一平台。

据荷兰外交部称，该机制“可以为供应链中因缺乏资金而难以扩大规模的领域（例如中小企业）提供融资”，并为乌克兰提供长期支持。

芬兰表示，正在就国防融资机制的“基础工作”进行磋商，而对该进程的承诺需要国家层面的政治决策。芬兰国防部长安蒂·哈卡宁表示，从一开始就参与其中将使芬兰有机会影响该机制的最终形态。

荷兰财政大臣埃尔科·海宁在一份声明中表示，该机制将为欧洲伙伴之间的防务合作提供一种新的方式，并向欧盟内外的“志同道合的西方伙伴”开放。

他说：“通过联合起来，我们可以用同样的资源获得更多的安全保障，同时也能加强我们的联盟。”

芬兰方面表示，该倡议将通过多国融资推动联合国防采购；英国财政部则表示，“全球安全面临挑战，需要创造性的解决方案”。

荷兰国防部表示，该机制旨在产生收益，并将收益回流至金融机构，从而增加资本并扩大贷款能力。该机构的运作方式与欧洲投资银行（EIB）或欧洲复兴开发银行类似，“但更侧重于国防领域”。

荷兰财政部表示，多边防御机制向其他国家开放，“我们特别邀请西方盟友加入”。

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。