
About
British and European Union negotiators have only a few months left to prevent a meltdown in European security when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union in March 2019.
In this context, Friends of Europe is launching a study on the role of the United Kingdom and the future of European security and defence.
Written by Paul Taylor, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe, POLITICO columnist and for many years Reuters EU Affairs and Diplomatic Editor, the study highlights the risks of a breakdown in practical cooperation on crime-fighting and counter-terrorism on the day after Brexit, and of serious longer-term damage to British and European defence industries. It offers a series of proposals to limit the impact for both British and European security.
The study follows two impactful reports released in 2017 on the roles of France and Germany in European security and defence cooperation.
Schedule
Safer together: The United Kingdom and the future of European security and defence
Britain faces a unique challenge to preserve its national security and global interests after it withdraws from the European Union next year. European security as a whole could be weakened unless the divorce is handled with great care on both sides.
The study “Safer together: The United Kingdom and the future of European security and defence” draws on extensive interviews with senior NATO and EU officials, politicians and security experts across Europe, as well as a specially commissioned survey.
In the report, international relations and EU policy veteran Paul Taylor, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe, examines the UK’s strategic position after Brexit, its web of defence and security relationships, the political context, the role and current state of the armed forces and security services, as well as the place of its defence industries. Paul Taylor sets out the stark policy choices British and EU leaders will have to make to optimise Britain’s defence and security role in Europe to mutual advantage despite the rupture of Brexit.
Introductory remarks
Paul Johnston
UK Representative to the EU’s Political and Security Committee
Jamie Shea
Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Paul Taylor
Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe
Moderator
Dharmendra Kanani
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe
Activities
From ambition to action: building Europe’s Defence Union
Past event In person

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
EU-Western Balkans Summit 2025
Next event In person & Livestreamed

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
Frontline Voices: renewing the women, peace and security agenda
Past event Online

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
Frontline Voices: diagnosing the disconnect – The Women, Peace and…
Past event Online

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
Defence Science and Technology: can NATO maintain its edge as its…
- Category
- #CriticalThinking
- Author
- By Jamie Shea
The next EU budget: increasing defence resources for strategic autonomy
- Category
- #CriticalThinking
- Author
- By Daniel Dăianu
How Russia fabricates reality to feign innocence while bombing civilians
- Category
- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
What happens to a kid abducted by Russia? Survivors and detention camp maps…
- Category
- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence

- Area of Expertise
- Peace, Security & Defence
Continue
the debate on
- Debating Europe