This year, the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU (January-July 2025) was characterised by an overhaul of EU defence spending and investment. With Denmark assuming the Presidency this month (July 2025), the theme of security and defence has been maintained in its priorities for “A strong Europe in a changing world”. Amid the impetus for defence integration in the EU, where does it leave militarily neutral Ireland? This Just the Facts dives into the EU defence agenda and looks at Ireland’s evolving contribution to EU defence cooperation.
Expanding EU defence architecture
For the most part of the twentieth century, European cooperation on defence and security primarily took place within the frameworks of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), established in 1949. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted the EU to take more responsibility for its security and defence, adopting a Strategic Compass to improve the EU’s autonomy in defence and security.
Between 2021-2024 alone, EU Member States’ (MS) total defence expenditure rose by 30%, reaching €326bn in 2024. EU defence investments nearly doubled in the same period, reaching €102bn in 2024, the highest level in the bloc’s history. Most recently, amid unpredictable and isolationist policies from the US, a leading NATO power, the EU has moved to further upgrade its homegrown defence capabilities.
In 2025, EU security and defence architecture underwent a major overhaul. In March 2025, the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030, outlining solutions to close capability gaps and build an EU defence industrial base by 2030. Underpinning this transformation is the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030. This defence package provides financial levers for EU MS, aiming to mobilise a record €800 billion in defence investment over the next four years (extendable).
Ireland – “not politically neutral”
Europe’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is outlined in Articles 42-46 of the Lisbon Treaty (2009), and has evolved into the central mechanism for joint EU operations, capability development, and crisis management. The CSDP structure comprises 13 instruments and agencies including the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Political and Security Committee (PSC) and the European Union Military Committee (EUMC).
Ireland has a policy of military neutrality, which is characterised by “non-membership of military alliances and non-participation in common or mutual defence arrangements”. However, Ireland maintains that it is “not politically neutral” and thus actively engages with, and participates in, various EU defence structures within the CSDP frameworks.
CSDP missions
Ireland has contributed to civilian and military CSDP missions since they began in 2003, having deployed personnel to missions in Somalia, Kosovo, Georgia, Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine, among others, focusing on peacebuilding, crisis management, and legal reform.
Individual Irish officers have been appointed to serve in key EU defence positions, such as Operational Commander of EUFOR Chad in 2007 and Mission Commander of EUTM Somalia in 2011 and 2013. The current Chair of the EU Military Committee (EUMC) is Irish Air Corps General, General Seán Clancy.
Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)
PESCO was set up in 2017, and strives for greater interoperability between MS, through specialised projects between groups of MS to establish common tactics, techniques and procedures in security and defence. Ireland is one of 26 MS participating in PESCO. As part of PESCO participation, MS agree to binding commitments which include to collaborate, invest, plan, deploy and develop defence capabilities.
MS contribute to PESCO projects on an opt-in voluntary basis. Currently, 75 PESCO projects are being developed. Ireland has participated in seven PESCO projects in total as a full member since 2017, and continues to participate in six, opting into two as recently as July 2024:
- Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance (UMS) (2018-2025)*
- Maritime (semi-) Autonomous Systems for Mine Countermeasures (MAS MCM) (2018-2035)**
- Deployable Military Disaster Relief Capability Package (DM-DRCP) (2018-2027)**
- Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform (CTIRISP) (2018-2024)**
- Critical Seabed Infrastructure Protection (CSIP) (2023-2035)***
- Network of Logistic Hubs in Europe and Support to Operations (NetLogHubs) (2018-2025)***
As of July 2025, Ireland has an Observer status on 17 PESCO projects, which allows Ireland to stay informed on the project without committing full resources.
*Ireland joined in 2018
**Ireland joined in 2022
***Ireland joined in 2024
European Peace Facility (EPF)
Established in 2021, Ireland contributes to the EPF, which funds the common costs of the CSDP missions and, under the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), finances non-EU countries or bodies in strengthening defence capabilities. Ireland limits its support to non-lethal assistance such as fuel, food, medical kits, and protective gear.
In 2023, the Government approved the participation of up to 30 Irish Defence Forces’ personnel in EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), delivering training modules in tactical combat casualty care, demining/mine clearance, and drill instruction training. The training is supported by the provision of equipment for lethal and non-lethal purposes to the Ukrainian Armed Forces which is provided by Member States and funded by the EPF.
As of March 2025, Ireland had committed approximately €250 million in non-lethal military support to Ukraine under the EPF, as well as donations of up to 10 tonnes of food, 200 units of body armour, 30 military vehicles and mine flails.
Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE)
In April 2025, the Department of Defence approved the Irish Defence Forces participation in CISE, an EU initiative for information-sharing among EU maritime authorities, both civil and military. Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris cited CISE as a “key enabler” for Ireland’s first ever Maritime Security Strategy, which aims to protect critical undersea infrastructure and trade routes.
Security Action for Europe (SAFE)
Most recently, in June 2025, Ireland signed up to the EU’s €150 billion SAFE instrument under the ReArm Europe Plan, an initiative that encourages MS to jointly spend and procure defence equipment.
Reconciling Irish neutrality with the EU’s defence ambitions
A change of tune?
Ireland’s contribution to EU defence, beyond CSDP deployment missions, has evolved and increased in the last decade. While the Irish Government maintains that Ireland’s military neutrality is “well understood” by EU partners, it simultaneously argues that Ireland “cannot stand on the sidelines” at a time of shifting security dynamics, and that investing in Ireland’s own security and defence capabilities, as well as deepening defence cooperation on the EU level, does not represent a departure from neutrality.
Not everybody agrees. Ireland’s renewed impetus regarding defence is proving to be politically divisive, with some TDs stating that Ireland’s neutrality is being threatened by the “military industrial complex” embraced by some countries in Europe. In particular, the Government’s approval to reform Ireland’s Triple Lock mechanism in March 2025 has sparked significant controversy, with pre-legislative scrutiny currently underway. The Triple Lock, requiring UN Security Council authorisation, Government approval, and Dáil Éireann consent for any overseas deployment, including for CSDP missions, is viewed by some as a safeguard of Irish neutrality. Moreover, in July 2025, the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation expressed concern with the provisions of the new EU Regulations on funding defence spending, including the SAFE instrument, around the “impact on Ireland’s long-standing policy of military neutrality”.
It’s worth noting that the Lisbon Treaty, which founded the CSDP, was initially rejected by Irish voters in a 2008 referendum over concerns on Irish neutrality, among other issues. EU leaders offered a guarantee that Irish neutrality would not be compromised, and the Treaty was approved by the Irish public in a second referendum in 2009, with the guarantees later enshrined in the 2012 ‘Protocol on the concerns of the Irish people on the Treaty of Lisbon.’
Defence Expenditure
While defence remains a national competence for each EU MS, Ireland’s defence spending is the lowest in the EU, at just 0.24% of GDP (€1.29bn) in 2024. By comparison, Austria, a country similar to Ireland due to its neutral status and as a non-NATO member has committed to increasing spending to 2% of GDP by 2032.
In any case, Ireland’s national defence is underdeveloped, according to the 2022 Commission on the Defence Forces Report. The report highlighted major capability gaps, notably in air defence, cybersecurity, and naval surveillance. Amid attacks on subsea infrastructure, particularly in the Baltic Sea, and growing concerns about shadow fleets in European waters, Ireland’s lagging investment and defensive shortfalls, particularly as an island MS, is under increasing scrutiny.
The Government approved upgrades to meet Level of Ambition 2 (LOA2) of the Defence report, to enhance capabilities like sonar, maritime surveillance, and tactical aircraft, with defence spending to rise from €1.1 billion to €1.5 billion (2022 prices) by 2028, the largest increase in the State’s history. In contrast, NATO members (of which 23 EU states are party) are recalibrating spending targets toward 5% of GDP as of June 2025.
Towards ‘Readiness 2030’
Ireland’s participation in EU defence has significantly evolved, reflecting a more active and strategic contribution over the last decade. As the EU moves toward greater defence integration under “Readiness 2030”, a militarily neutral, but not politically neutral Ireland faces growing pressure to define the limits of its engagement.
Looking ahead to the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU in July 2026, we can expect security and defence to remain a key EU priority. Ireland’s ability to credibly lead on these issues will be closely watched, both in Brussels and Dublin.
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