Brexit treaty offers no easy path to EU defence research funding for UK

“These provisions are not dissimilar to US controls on defence technology, which force UK companies with operations in the US to create elaborate firewalls to ensure that UK personnel do not acquire sensitive US information or US-generated intellectual property,” said Ian Bond, former British diplomat and director of foreign affairs at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank.

There will “surely be some” UK collaboration with member states on defence projects in the future, “because of the technological strength of UK industry,” according to Daniel Keohane, senior research fellow at Dublin City University.

“There are some extra hurdles for non-EU countries to participate, so a key question is who wants to carry out a project with the UK. Given there have been plenty of those projects in the past (and ongoing), and given the large capacity and ability of UK industry, that in itself should not be a major barrier,” Keohane said.