Pushback On Defence Eurobonds At EUCO Summit

The prospect of agreement being reached on joint EU debt issuance, including so-called 'defence eurobonds' to pay for enhanced investment in the Union's defence and security, remains a distant one with several national leaders pushing back against the prospect at the ongoing special European Councl summit in Brussels. Estonian PMKaja Kallas, French President Emmanuel Macron, Belgian PM Alexander De Croo, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton and European Council President Charles Michelhave talked up the idea. Earlier, Kallas said that there is "a lot of support" for the idea, and that - as during the pandemic - it was possible for "unthinkable" initiative to be adopted despite "frugal" scepticism.

• Euractiv notes, "Michel said EU member states should pool what could amount to €600 billion in defence investment over the next 10 years. He also said European defence bonds would be an attractive asset class, including for retail investors. Incidentally, a top European Investment Bank cautioned in an interview with Euractiv in January that investors don’t currently have an appetite for defence-related financial assets."
• However, speaking ahead of the summit new Irish Taoiseach (PM) Simon Harris stated that “I understand there are several member states including some larger member states that may have concerns because it’s not just an issue around defense or defense policy...It’s also an issue about how you wish to appropriately leverage the limited resources available… to meet a whole variety of challenges,” Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that “joint debt always means bearing the joint burden of interest,”