“We need to do more. We need to do it better, stronger, faster. And we need to do it together”. In the words of the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, there is a first assessment of the informal summit of the 27 Heads of State or Government who met yesterday until late evening in Brussels to discuss defence. And talking about defence, Mr Costa voiced this concern: “The ongoing war in Ukraine, cyber and hybrid attacks, the situation in the Middle East – all this calls for a strong European approach to ensure the security of all our citizens, to ensure peace on our continent. And building the Europe of Defence is an integral part of this project. Today, our discussions focused on three main topics: capabilities, funding, and partnerships”. Over the summit, which saw the participation of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in two different moments, loomed the shadow of Trump, with a possible military disengagement of the US from Europe and the repeated ambiguous threats of trade tariffs.

On defence capabilities, “that should be developed as a matter of priority”, said Mr Costa. “We agree to concentrate on the most critical gaps identified by member states through the work of the European Defence Agency, in full coherence with NATO. And to concentrate on areas where there is a clear EU added value. In the discussion today, there was a clear focus on air and missile defence for example, but also, to mention just a few, missiles and ammunition, military mobility and strategic enablers”. And he pointed out: “There was another very clear message today: strengthening the European defence industry has to be at the centre of this effort – we must produce more of the capabilities we need, and do it faster”.