Following the start of Germany’s European Council leadership;

Madeline Wild, Defense and Security Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on the situation:

“Germany’s future actions as leader of the European Council (EC) will offer valuable possibilities for the UK in the post-Brexit defense landscape. While Germany’s defense minister stating her desire for non-EU members to have greater access to the resources of recently-launched Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)  would have primarily benefited US companies, the UK will almost certainly be included in any future plans.

“Germany’s low level of defense readiness will make the nation even more keen for the UK to participate in PESCO because of the value and strength of British defense resources, which would seriously augment the European defensive position. While the UK refused the opportunity to join PESCO in 2017, and thus has no decision making rights, a German EC leadership could open new opportunities for cooperation between the UK and its European counterparts. The UK could benefit economically and strategically from any future third-party involvement, especially as cooperation levels in NATO have faltered in recent months.”