Senior EU and UK officials have stepped up discussions in recent weeks on potential steps for closer defence and security co-operation in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Encouraged by the success of the Windsor framework between London and Brussels that removed Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements as an irritant between the UK and EU, security discussions have ramped up in recent weeks.
Officials have held informal but regular discussions aimed at better co-ordination in areas including increased European arms production, according to people briefed on the talks.
UK foreign secretary James Cleverly and Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president, signed off the Windsor deal on Friday and promised to build on their recent “excellent co-operation”.
In a joint communique, the two sides said they would hold a dialogue “in the areas of cyber security and counter-terrorism” and vowed to continue to collaborate on a European response to the war in Ukraine.
Officials on both sides have long seen foreign, security and defence issues as the most obvious areas for closer co-operation post-Brexit, but the dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol was seen as a big obstacle.
“There is interest . . . and we have always been open to this,” said one EU official. “Remember, it was us that never wanted them to leave and stop co-operation in the first place.”
Britain is one of western Europe’s two leading defence powers, along with France, with sophisticated intelligence services and a global reach. Britain is also the lead member of the JEF military alliance that covers the Nordic and Baltic states plus the Netherlands.
UK armed forces minister James Heappey attended the EU’s inaugural Schuman Security and Defence Forum last week, and held “productive” bilateral meetings with senior officials from the 27-member bloc, the people said.
The discussions are aimed at “incremental” progress rather than a formalised security and defence co-operation agreement, those close to the talks said, with officials wary of potential political blowback from Eurosceptic members of the UK’s governing Conservative party.
Officials said that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine had focused minds in Brussels and London on both the need for better co-ordination on security matters and joined-up defence industrial planning to meet a vastly increased demand for arms production.
Co-ordination between Brussels and London on sanctions against Moscow, primarily under the auspices of the G7, also made clear to officials on both sides that formal communication and co-operation channels between the two were necessary.
EU officials are also keen to explore potential areas of co-operation in other areas such as intelligence-sharing, joint defence missions and possible ties with the European Defence Agency, the EU’s defence promotion wing.
The UK joined the “military mobility” aspect of the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (Pesco) project last year, an initiative designed to improve the transportation of military assets around Europe. The US, Canada and Norway are already members.
“In general, we support [better EU-UK defence co-operation], it is reasonable,” said one senior official from an EU member state. “The devil is in the details, But in general, increased defence capacity for Europe is good for us.”
