The great reset? How the EU and the UK can rethink their security and defence cooperation

In this seventh episode of our mini-series , Mark Leonard and Susi Dennison talk to Nick Witney and Camille Grand about the potential for a great reset in UK-EU relations, especially regarding cooperation on defence

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War has returned to the European continent, putting many previous divisions into perspective. This has caused European leaders to think afresh about their politics – and raised the question of the United Kingdom’s role in European foreign policy. Seven years after the Brexit referendum, the EU and the UK have finally resolved some of their differences through the Windsor Framework. The possibility of a reset between the UK and the EU on foreign policy could be on the horizon. In this year’s mini-series, Mark Leonard and Susi Dennison examine what a reimagined EU-UK relationship might look like. 

In this seventh episode, Mark and Susi welcome ECFR senior policy fellow, Nick Witney, who previously served as the first chief executive of the European Defence Agency, and ECFR distinguished policy fellow, Camille Grand, who is a former NATO assistant secretary general. How have Brexit and then the war in Ukraine affected UK-EU defence cooperation? What potential is there for future collaboration in defence, especially in the areas of industry, technology, and energy? And could NATO act as a vehicle for a different kind of defence relationship between the UK and EU member states?


This podcast was recorded on 20 July 2023.   

Bookshelf:

What Just Happened?! by Marina Hyde

LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay, by Warren Kozak

The Bomber Mafia, by Malcolm Gladwell (podcast)

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