In its drive to establish EU-wide security of supply for the defence market, Brussels faces protectionism, a flawed notion of European strategic autonomy and mistrust among governments. On June 28th 2016, the European Union published its new Global Strategy (EUGS) for foreign and security policy. As part of its rather vague call for a “sustainable, innovative and competitive” European defence industry, the strategy stresses the need for European ‘security of supply’ in the defence sector. For national defence planners, security of supply means a guarantee that they will have access to defence equipment, irrespective of the member-state in which their suppliers are located. More concrete proposals for achieving this will be included in the Commission’s ‘Defence Action Plan’, due in the autumn of 2016, which will outline a security of supply ‘roadmap’. This insight explains the tensions and trade-offs the Commission must consider in its drive to establish EU-wide security of supply.[...]