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EU shifted toward common borrowing and defense-industrial spending
The article says the EU funded Covid furlough support with €100 billion in market borrowing, followed by €750 billion more for grants tied to green and digital investment.
Guardian Economics argues that the UK’s rejoin debate should focus less on the historic price of Brexit and more on how the EU has changed since the UK left, including its growing use of common borrowing and a broader role in security and defence.
The outlet says the EU borrowed €100 billion from capital markets to support member states’ furlough programs after Covid, then raised an additional €750 billion that was largely passed to the 27 governments as grants for green and digital investments.
It adds that, after the United States reduced its security commitments to Europe, the European Commission borrowed €150 billion to back defence-industrial collaboration under the Security Action for Europe initiative, alongside similar financing approaches for support to Ukraine.
Guardian Economics frames this as a significant shift in European integration, saying common borrowing functions as a form of quasi-political and fiscal integration, which many Eurosceptics had previously warned could develop, and that the EU is positioning common debt as its tool for future shocks.