EU capitals have agreed to launch a €150bn loans-for-arms fund backed by the bloc’s shared budget, in a landmark shift for Brussels spurred by Russia’s war against Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s demands for Europe to spend more on its own security.
The initiative, which will allow EU countries to borrow from Brussels and spend on weapons systems and platforms through joint procurement, was proposed by the European Commission earlier this year as a means to speed up the continent’s rearmament.
It also seeks to expand the EU’s defence-industrial sector after decades of decline by diverting the majority of the cash to EU-based arms companies and encouraging non-EU subcontractors to relocate to the continent, according to the terms of the agreement seen by the Financial Times.