“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought war back to Europe, and rebuilding the EU’s defence industry is critical to maintaining Europe’s strategic independence. In this report series, we consider what it will take for the EU to expand and develop its industrial and technological defence base to reinforce its strategic autonomy. In our previous publication, we concluded that both public and private capital will have to be mobilised to successfully rebuild the European defence industry. Among other things, European defence companies need access to capital and loans to bring their technical innovations and solutions to industrial scale and to achieve the necessary volume ramp-up. In this second publication, we consider the status and potential of different funding alternatives. In the public domain, different types of collective financing arrangements are being considered, in addition to direct sovereign financing. Assuming the EU member states are successful in ramping up their defence spending, this could have a significant impact on economic growth in the coming years.”
Morten W. Langer