EU Summit: Go Big on Defence. Now

The EPP Group calls on European leaders for decisive action to gear up European defence at their retreat on Monday.

“Europe must stop being a defence consumer and become a provider. The EPP Group supports the leaders in taking decisive action to strengthen our European defence capabilities. We need a powerful European defence pillar working hand in hand with NATO to protect us from external aggressors. To achieve this, we need to raise our level of ambition, create a stronger European defence industry and foster a spirit of joint solidarity,” insists Nicolás Pascual de la Parte MEP, EPP Group’s Spokesman on Security and Defence.

"Putin will not wait if we allow him to win in Ukraine. Supporting Ukraine now is the best way to prepare our civilian and military assets, gear ourselves against the aggressor and thereby deter him from any further sinister thoughts. I strongly believe that this informal leaders' retreat clears the way for immediate and decisive action in Ukraine's and our favour," adds Michael Gahler MEP, the European Parliament's lead MEP on Ukraine and EPP Group Spokesman on Foreign Affairs.

The EPP Group has consistently shown its willingness to promote a strong defence capability in Europe. We are a political force that stands for a Europe that can defend itself while supporting those who fight for our European and fundamental values. For the EPP Group, the next decade must be the decade of European defence and to achieve this, the Group demands and pushes for a focus on five key points, as outlined in our recently adopted position paper. Find out more here.