Persuasion and convening power might have a role to play in developing Europe's defence industrial base? Your opposition to the EU expanding its role in this area seems to be largely motivated by your need to justify Brexit.
In no way. I opposed the EU getting into defence as far back as Maastricht. The Brussels bureaucracy is hopelessly slow and inefficient, and NATO (which has such a huge overlap of members) should be our primary defence organisation. The EU’s Defence Industrial Strategy explicitly creates divisions within NATO, which I think is deeply damaging.
You are of course entitled to your view but the EU is unlikely to listen to a UK which has left. Do you not think it would make sense to have a back-up plan to assist Ukraine in case Trump is elected in November? What credibility will the NATO Article 5 guarantee have if the US is headed by a President who has openly stated that he would encourage Russia to attack certain NATO members? Why would Putin believe that the US would honour its NATO commitments if that is the case? Who other than the EU can offer "convening power" in that eventuality?
Persuasion and convening power might have a role to play in developing Europe's defence industrial base? Your opposition to the EU expanding its role in this area seems to be largely motivated by your need to justify Brexit.
In no way. I opposed the EU getting into defence as far back as Maastricht. The Brussels bureaucracy is hopelessly slow and inefficient, and NATO (which has such a huge overlap of members) should be our primary defence organisation. The EU’s Defence Industrial Strategy explicitly creates divisions within NATO, which I think is deeply damaging.
You are of course entitled to your view but the EU is unlikely to listen to a UK which has left. Do you not think it would make sense to have a back-up plan to assist Ukraine in case Trump is elected in November? What credibility will the NATO Article 5 guarantee have if the US is headed by a President who has openly stated that he would encourage Russia to attack certain NATO members? Why would Putin believe that the US would honour its NATO commitments if that is the case? Who other than the EU can offer "convening power" in that eventuality?