Asked by: Lord Craig of Radley (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proposal for a European Rearmament Bank, and whether they plan to support its development.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK committed to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027. We also set an ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament.
The UK has always believed in working together with allies to keep our countries safe, secure and prosperous. A strong economy needs a strong national defence, and the UK is committed to collaborating with our allies on enhancing European defence capabilities and value for money from increased defence spending.
As we continue to strengthen our collective defence landscape, it is vital we look to the longer-term and build on the work of existing and ongoing initiatives to aggregate defence demand together and increase European & NATO interoperability and standardisation.
We continue to engage with stakeholders, such as the European Rearmament Bank authors, on new ideas.