For the first time, security and defence will be a separate heading in the next MFF even though Article 41.2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) prohibits the use of the EU budget for defence reasons.

After decades of relative peace and security, Europe is faced with a conflict on its doorstep that threatens to upend the recent stability and shift geopolitical order. Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine has forced Europe to confront its shortcomings with regard to providing its own security...