Open Access
EU-UK Defence and Security Cooperation: A Union Law Perspective
Ur Europarättslig tidskrift 2026 2
The Russian war against Ukraine has dramatically shifted the perspective on security and defence in Europe. Persistent instability in the Middle East, increasing volatility in both South America and across sub-Saharan Africa as well as serious uncertainty surrounding the status of Taiwan add further challenges. Remarkable changes brought on by the Trump administration to seemingly well-established American positions on foreign policy have added significantly to rapidly growing European security concerns.
Against the background of these geopolitical shifts, a new Security and Defence Partnership (“SDP”) agreed between the EU and the UK was published in May 2025 as a first step towards more formalised cooperation on security and defence.
This contribution examines the status of the increased security and defence relationship between the EU and the UK. While it is acknowledged that the SDP represents progress in the security and defence relationship between the parties, Three critical observations will be made concerning; (i) the SDP’s lack of substantial commitments; (ii) legal difficulties in actually realising what the new partnership intends to achieve and (iii) its restricted reach.
This article will also reflect on how to the EU-UK security and defence partnership may be improved beyond the SDP.
https://doi.org/10.53292/8c345de7.cde4e530
