World Insights: A sovereign, defensible Europe still just a vision

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

58% : " Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also said that the EU must "safeguard the financial and monetary stability of our economies and the euro area" in considering any measures involving Russian assets, ahead of the summit on Wednesday.
55% : During the summit, the European Council urged member states to work on all the priority capability areas set out at the EU level, as stated in the Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030 previously submitted by the European Commission, so that Europe can develop a full spectrum of modern defense capabilities in close coordination with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
53% : Against the backdrop of the U.S. retreat from its security commitments to Europe under the Trump administration, the latest summit further underlined the EU's ambition to achieve defense autonomy.
52% : Analysts note that although the European Commission has articulated a clear blueprint for the EU's strategic defense autonomy, headwinds, including financing, technology and internal divisions, raise doubts about the bloc's ability to translate it into action. LIMITED CONSENSUS As one of the important items on the agenda, deliberations on Ukraine drew wide attention.
50% : Prime Minister of Luxembourg Luc Frieden said that he would only support using Russian assets to issue a "reparation loan" to Ukraine, under the condition that the EU must first "make sure that it is legally sound.
48% : " Roughly 90 percent of the frozen Russian assets in the EU are held by Euroclear, one of the world's largest settlement and clearing systems headquartered in Belgium.
46% : The Roadmap remains largely a conceptual framework at the Commission level, forming part of the EU's broader push for defense integration, a politically sensitive issue on which member states are expected to stay divided, Jian said.
42% : After rounds of debate at the summit, EU leaders, however, only agreed "to revert to this issue at its next meeting.
42% : Security and defense lie at the very core of sovereignty, an area where EU countries have always been wary of ceding control.
39% : In this context, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever became the biggest obstacle, demanding guarantees from all EU states to share any legal and financial risks if Russia retaliates.
38% : Several member states are already under financial strain, and the EU's proposal to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, despite the legal risks, further demonstrates the financial pressures Europe is facing.

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