EU Opens COVID Recovery Funds to Defense Projects
Above: A pilot climbs inside a Mirage 2000-5F aircraft from the 'Cigognes' 1/2 fighter squadron (EC) at the French Air Force's Base 116 in Luxeuil-les-Bains, northeastern France, on May 27 2025. Image copyright: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Europe narrative
The EU must urgently boost defense spending by any means possible, whether it be through borrowing or through COVID-era mechanisms. Europe faces existential threats, from Russia’s war on Ukraine to a less reliable U.S. under Trump. Peace, autonomy, and credibility demand that Europe acts, and investment in the continent's security must happen before it’s too late.
Opposition narrative
Repurposing the RRF for defense spending exposes deep flaws in EU governance. Originally justified by crisis urgency, its intergovernmental design sidelined parliaments. Extending this opaque model to military investments risks entrenching a system where democratic accountability is sacrificed for speed, eroding public trust in the EU.
