‘Next-level urgency’: EU leaders spring into action as reality of US pivot to Russia hits

Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, views the need to increase defence spending as a potential boon to a Europe that is otherwise in danger of deindustrialising.

“The EU remains a funny animal. From the outside, it looks like a rich bloc with a strong industrial base and lower debt than the US or China – surely capable of rearming quickly and cheaply if it just co-ordinated. Inside, leaders are too busy distrusting each other to act, squabbling while the house burns,” he said.