The European Investment Bank could help meet some of the challenges facing Europe’s struggling defence industry

European countries face significant challenges in funding defence research and development programmes. Among the most important are declining defence budgets, fierce international competition, and the increasingly expensive nature of high-end technologies. Daniel Fiott argues that the European Investment Bank could play a much greater role in Europe’s defence sector and serve as a life-line to defence research and development, dual-use projects and small and medium sized enterprises.