The Ministry of Defence has outlined its plans for future UK-EU foreign and security policy dialogues.
Answering a written parliamentary question from Ben Obese-Jecty MP, Defence Minister Al Carns said the government “pledged in its manifesto to pursue a new relationship with the EU to strengthen European security, support growth and reinforce NATO.”
He added that the recently released Strategic Defence Review “further reiterates this commitment and recognises that international partnerships are crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity.”
Carns confirmed that implementation of the UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership, agreed at the May 2025 summit, is progressing jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. “Since May, my Rt Hon Friend, Defence Secretary John Healey has held discussions with the European Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius,” he said, adding that these talks explored “the potential for enhanced UK-EU cooperation under SAFE.”
He also confirmed that “the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary will both meet with the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, for the first UK/EU foreign and security policy dialogue under the SDP.”
In a separate written question on strengthening Europe’s collective industrial base, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the new Defence Industrial Strategy “reaffirms our belief that close cooperation with our European allies is essential.”
He cited ongoing work to “strengthen our shared defence industrial base to ensure Europe is able to secure the critical capabilities needed at the necessary speed, scale and value for money.” Pollard also pointed to bilateral initiatives such as “Lancaster House 2.0 with France,” the “Trinity House agreement with Germany,” and the “UK-Norway defence partnership, including the Type 26 procurement, which will sustain 4,000 jobs in the UK.”
This should provide ample meetings for quite some time
I love meetings,
It’s great to talk,
It’s so much fun to arrange get togethers to discuss fun stuff
From every meeting, many others will come and so much pottential to exchange lots of words and see what other meetings can be arranged in the future.
We really should have more meetings.
NATO Knitting Groups also get a lot of knitted jumper output…ideal for those nights in the trenches to come if someone doesn’t get a grip….
I think you need to get laid….is the name of the Committee they are forming at this very moment.
Everyone in stitches….
“ “further reiterates this commitment and recognises that international partnerships are crucial for the UK’s security and prosperity.””
Bernard would be so proud of such a meaningless sentence.
Defence
Investment
Plan
I think team UKDJ need to be looking at alternatives for the acronym….
The success of international defence cooperation lies in firmly asserting our independence—by working ever more closely with everyone else. Sir Humphrey Appleby. 🤣
Brilliant
More words of nothing, MOD has become a talking shop and coffee moning meeting club and bugger all else. Nothing spent on major Army kit in 16 months, are they saving up to buy some thing? to make look good when they do finally order what is long over due or have they ran out of petty cash?. We waiting for some to find some under the mattres or down the back of the settee?.
Every thing will be working and in service by 2030, and as long no one starts a war until then all will be fine. Whole Regts of Artillery with nothing to do, no kit to work on just very one sat about in empty gun parks reading health and safely and UK policy and projects waffle.
Any you wonder why more leave the Army than join it, CDS is off his rocker and deluded
I have no idea why governments are always hell bent on tying us into agreements with other countrys why can’t we just take it on a situation by situation case europe doesn’t know how to behave they never have and they will drag us into some conflict we don’t need how many times is it now the uk has rescued europe 3 ?
Right so let’s get out of NATO I guess then. As for Europe dragging us into wars, did they drag us into the Napoleonic war, it was two. It was two big dogs fighting over World dominance at the core. Did they drag us into WW1 surely that was Britain declaring war on Germany due to the post Napoleonic War defence treaty we signed guaranteeing the independence of Belgium, when German attacked Belgium that treaty was triggered but we signed that treaty because we saw it as essential to our own defence. However you argue it, it was again our choice to sign and then trigger it. Not sure a Europe run by Germany would have been good for us, indeed over time would have been our decline and fall in a replay of the Napoleonic system that strangled us that we got out of only BECAUSE of European alliances we forged. WW2 well again we saw a free Europe as essential for similar reasons, it being under German occupation proved near fatal to us and longer term either Germany or Russia would have strangled us. The trigger for that one was of course defending Poland, hey we didn’t need to but considering how they gave us the secrets to breaking the German codes and were crucial to the RAF in the Battle of Britain, letting them go would likely have led to the same end just further down the line with Germany likely taking control of all of central and Eastern Europe not to mention Norway and Denmark anyway and giving them the time to develop the nuclear warheads to attach to their ballistic missiles giving them near total hegemony over most of the World. ‘Man in the High Castle’ territory. So comments of that sort annoy me in the same way as hearing naive Americans boasting about saving us all. In reality there’s a good chance they would be speaking German too. Mind you if Lindbergh had won the election rather than Roosevelt many would have been happy with that.
NATO is actually to our advantage u like so defence pact with Europe which will just see us doing the trouble makers work for them, and did they drag us into the napolionic wars YES when France failed to live up to the peace treaty just like they always did and yes we were dragged into ww1 by them squabbling like they always do and as to Poland breaking the enigma coda what fantasy is this they broke a primitive version of it unless u think code breakers in Bletchley were just sitting around for 2 years doing nothing , and I don’t care if my comment upsets u facts are facts the British and the Anglo world has had to rescue Europe 3 times from themselves they are troublemakers simple as that and we do not need to tie ourselves to them
Seconded in spades!
We are not French or like the French, we are not German or like the Germans, we are an unimportant independent little island thankfully separate from the humungus, useless bureaucracy that is the EU.
Colin Brooks AKA Dung
Absolutely we do not need to be tied to these trouble makers we can vote in parliament on a case by case basis when they all start squabbling again (and they will) we do not need to be tied to them
We are an unimportant little island with a £3tr GDP, 70% bigger than Russia’s, that could, if it chose to, buy the equipment to wipe the floor with Russia all by ourselves. Why we choose not to is all politics.
Defence by committee consensus is a road which leads to hell. International agreements and cooperation have no value in themselves. They only have value when the parties actually agree, cooperate and the joint effort produces outcomes better than the individual parts. The test of such a relationship is in being in how it operates in real life.
An example of good cooperation might be MBDA where France, Italy and the UK cooperate really effectively to make fine weapons.
A bad example would be the same countries participating in the Common New Generation Frigate Project which set out to save money by developing a common design and ended up causing delays and costing money because no one could agree on what they wanted.
Subsequently there’s a strong argument for keeping Germany out of projects like Tempest because introducing Germany as a primary partner would lead to delays because Germany’s primary interest would be to gain workshare and technology transfer and not delivering a fighter timeously.
The only war that Europe will drag the UK into is one with Russia, which we’d be getting into anyway. And a Europe occupied by Russia is absolutely not in Britain national interest. But yes I’m sure telling allies “Hey you’re on your own” is a great way to make friends in the international community…
Who said anything about saying “hey you are on your own”???
As part of NATO we would help defend all of Europe NOT just the EU.
Friendships are always welcome, depending on the strings ^.^
Colin Brooks AKA Dung
“As part of NATO we would help defend all of Europe not just the EU.”
So what parts of the EU are not in NATO?
-Austria
Yes Austria is definitely going to drag us into some sort of massive confrontation isn’t it?
-Malta
Yes another troubled hotspot that we definitely will be dragged into a War to defend.
-Ireland
Do you honestly think we’d stand by with our hands in our pockets if Ireland where somehow invaded by a foreign power. Of course Ireland is also another troubled hotspot that will definitely drag us into War.
If anything our NATO commitment, with non-EU NATO members such as Turkey (with it’s regional competition with Russia and ongoing border wars in Syria and Kurdistan), Norway (with it’s Russian border) and Iceland (vital to the GIUK gap) are more likelt to drag us into War.
Also saying to your allies “we will vote on whether to help you on a case by case basis” is saying you are on your own btw. It shows you as an unreliable player that nobody can put any faith in and has to be counted out, at which point nobody makes commitments to you in return.
Again – seconded in spades!