MNI BRIEF: EU Summit To Focus On Speeding Defence Readiness

Speeding EU defence readiness from the current 2030 deadline be the first item on the agenda at this week's meeting of the bloc's leaders in Copenhagen, following recent drone incursions and the cyber attack against Copenhagen airport, a senior EU source said on Monday. 

"This is the first question that will be put to leaders,” the source said.

The summit would look more at how to deploy existing EU financing instruments for defence rather than discuss new ones, although it was likely that some states would raise that possibility, the official said.

"There are already financing instruments available that can be used to do this at pace, specifically SAFE," the source said, referring to the EUR150 billion EU defence loan facility. (See MNI INTERVIEW: EU Bond Market Needs More Issuance-ICMA's Hill )

Leaders are also expected to discuss a list of flagship projects, including a potential "drone wall" to protect EU frontline states.