EU

Michael McGrath: Ireland won’t support EU defence bonds

The bloc is looking for new ways to finance defence and security, including joint borrowing and a beefed-up role for the European Investment Bank

Michael McGrath: “Sharing the debt burden in relation to investment in defence is not something that the Irish government is supportive of.”

Ireland does not support common EU borrowing to fund more defence spending, the finance minister has said.

Michael McGrath said joint borrowing “creates risk” for the EU’s financial stability and that governments should concentrate on using existing European money.

“Sharing the debt burden in relation to investment in defence is not something that the Irish government is supportive of,” Michael McGrath told the Business Post ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg ...