\n<\/p>\n
The UK should consider re-entering talks for a defence pact with the EU, Keir Starmer has said, arguing that Europe needs to \u201cstep up and do more\u201d to defend itself in uncertain times.<\/p>\n
The prime minister signalled that he wanted to work more collaboratively with other European countries to increase defence spending and build up military capability, and doing so through the EU\u2019s scheme is one option available.<\/p>\n
Talks for the UK to join the EU\u2019s \u20ac150bn (\u00a3130bn) security action for Europe (Safe) defence fund collapsed in November 2025 amid claims the bloc had set too high a price on entry, with France blamed for the breakdown.<\/p>\n
However, there is understood to be greater appetite on all sides for a deal on the UK to join a future round of Safe, especially since Donald Trump\u2019s threats to take over Greenland and criticism of Nato.<\/p>\n
Asked on his trip to China whether there was a case for the UK going back into a second-round Safe defence pact if the price was right, Starmer said: \u201cEurope, including the UK, needs to do more on security and defence \u2026 that\u2019s an argument I\u2019ve been making for many months now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to step up and do more. It\u2019s not only President Trump who thinks Europe needs to do more but other presidents as well. I think the same. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve made commitments to greater spending. I think we need to go beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Guardian revealed on Friday that the UK and EU were exploring the prospect of new talks on closer defence cooperation. Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, the EU\u2019s trade commissioner, is due in London for talks on Monday, when trade, energy and fisheries will be on the agenda.<\/p>\n
While defence is not currently on the agenda for that meeting, there may be further opportunities for the EU and UK to discuss defence at a political summit convened by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, to discuss critical minerals in Washington on Wednesday, with the Foreign Office sending a minister.<\/p>\n
Starmer wants to build on defence deals struck with European allies in recent months, and more bilateral deals is another option on the table. Norway has agreed a \u00a310bn deal for anti-submarine warships that will be built in the UK, while Britain has agreed to sell 20 Typhoon fighter jets to Turkey for \u00a38bn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think on spend, capability and cooperation we need to do more together. I\u2019ve made the argument and that should require us to look at schemes like Safe and others to see whether there is a way in which we can work more closely together,\u201d Starmer told reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s Safe or other initiatives, it makes good sense for Europe in the widest sense of the word \u2013 which is the EU plus other European countries \u2013 to work more closely together. That\u2019s what I\u2019ve been advocating and I hope to make some progress on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Safe fund is made up of money the European Commission raises on credit markets, which is then lent to member states over 45 years. They can buy everything from ammunition to drones and missiles.<\/p>\n
The aim of the fund is to enable the EU to build up a defence capability quickly, something given an extra urgency by the lack of support from Trump and his regular threats over Nato.<\/p>\n
The UK is not eligible to apply for a Safe loan, but if it joined the programme under third-country rules then UK companies could tender for more procurement contracts to provide arms to the EU, boosting the British defence industry.<\/p>\n
It is understood that the EU had demanded that the UK contribute about \u20ac2bn to the fund and that the British felt a contribution in the hundreds of millions was more appropriate.<\/p>\n
Starmer is facing pressure from within his own party for closer ties with the EU. He has rejected the idea of rejoining the customs union, as the UK would have to rip up trade deals with other countries, but the prime minister is known to be keen on further alignment with the single market.<\/p>\n
EU relations are increasingly becoming a dividing line between Labour and Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK, though the government has ruled out the UK going back into the single market or customs union or bringing back free movement.<\/p>\n
In China, Starmer criticised the Reform leader\u2019s promises on Brexit. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t listen too much to what Nigel Farage has to say about this. It is absolutely clear the botched deal we got from the last government has damaged our economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is why we have to reset that relationship and do want to get closer on defence and security, on energy, on emissions and trade \u2026 when we get to the summit this year we will not only follow up on the 10 strands that we set out at last year\u2019s summit, we\u2019ll also want to get closer with an iterative process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK should consider re-entering talks for a defence pact with the EU, Keir Starmer has said, arguing that Europe needs to \u201cstep up and do more\u201d to defend itself in uncertain times. The prime minister signalled that he wanted to work more collaboratively with other European countries to increase defence spending and build up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[327,20129,328,18398,1347,1456],"class_list":{"0":"post-43423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-defence","9":"tag-pact","10":"tag-policy","11":"tag-resuming","12":"tag-starmer","13":"tag-talks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}