Germany not ruling out joining Carney’s defence bank, says German official
MONTREAL—The German government has not ruled out joining Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new Defence, Security, and Resilience Bank, says a prominent German parliamentarian, after Berlin turned down the concept last year.
Stefan Rouenhoff, Germany’s parliamentary state secretary to the economic affairs and energy minister, sat down for an interview with The Hill Times on the sidelines of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) conference on energy efficiency in Montreal. Rouenhoff said German defence experts are discussing the workings of the new bank that would offer low-cost funding to small and medium-sized defence firms, and Germany isn’t entirely opposed to the idea. The bank will be headquartered in Canada, and will have its European office in Luxembourg.
Last December, Berlin’s finance ministry told Reuters that the country was not considering joining the new multilateral banking system for arms manufacturers, as it was focused on employing existing financial instruments within the Eureopean Union for the purpose.
Even Westminster in London, U.K., has not expressed a clear support for the defence bank yet.
“We'll see if that is the way to go, a way which is possible to go … or if we believe that other ways are better. So we are deliberating the concept,” Rouenhoff told The Hill Times on June 30.
Carney (Nepean, Ont.) will travel to Turkey for the NATO Summit taking place on July 7 and July 8, and is expected to hold further discussions on the DSR Bank with the other NATO leaders.
While the German leaders are still mulling the proposal, a trade organization in the country has voiced its support.
Days ago, a German defence industry association urged Berlin to join the DSR Bank, as per European news publication Euractiv.
Germany looking at more energy deals with Canada
Canada and Germany have been exploring new commercial and defence partnerships since last year as part of Carney’s push for diversification.
Berlin is also strengthening ties with its allies to pursue the diversification objective, Rouenhoff insisted, and the recent 20-year deal with Germany’s Securing Energy for Europe to supply one million tonnes per year of LNG from Ksi Lisims starting 2030 is an example of this endeavour. Ksi Lisims is a proposed project on the British Columbia coast that was referred to the Major Projects Office last November, and has a commitment from BC Hydro to supply the project 600 megawatts of power once the agency expands its North Coast Transmission Line
Another German firm, Uniper, has also signed a preliminary agreement to import LNG from Ksi Lisims from 2032.
Rouenhoff said this is just the start of Germany’s energy co-operation with Canada, and there may be more such deals to come.
Rouenhoff met Energy Minister Tim Hodgson (Markham-Thornhill, Ont.) in Montreal on June 29 along with ministers from Italy, Spain, and Poland to discuss issues of joint interest on energy security.
Ksi Lisims will take years to build, and environmentalists have raised concerns over the push for new fossil fuel energy infrastructure when several countries, including in Europe, are focusing on transitioning to cleaner sources of energy.
European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen said at the IEA conference in Montreal earlier this week that “nobody” believes fossil fuels are the answer for the future.
About 56 per cent of Germany's gross electricity consumption came from renewables in 2025, as per a German energy industry group BDEW. This proportion is expected to be higher in 2026, it said in a press release last December.
Germany is also, however, reliant on natural gas for its industries and consumers. As per the International Energy Agency, in 2024, natural gas consisted of 27 per cent of the country’s energy supply, with domestic gas production accounting for 4.6 per cent of total gas supply. This means Germany imports most of its natural gas, and was dependent on Russia until that country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In 2025, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium were among Germany's key sources for LNG.
A big chunk of carbon emissions in Germany are attributed to natural gas, with the number standing at 28 per cent in 2023, according the IEA's data.
Germany will still need natural gas for years to come for its base load capacity, Rouenhoff said, as the country has shut down nuclear power plants and has stopped firing coal.
Exporting LNG from a “high-standard ally” like Canada, he said, would ensure it has stable supply in the future. While Europe is broadly transitioning towards clean energy, Germany’s approach to energy transition, he added, is “pragmatic” and “realistic.”
“We don't want to lose our industries, which help us to decarbonize," he said. "Moreover, nobody is helped if those industries go to China, go to other countries in the world and produce the same products with much higher C02 emissions. … This is not what we want."
Semiconductors and critical minerals areas of interest
Rouenhoff signed a joint letter of intent with Canada on the margins of the IEA conference on June 29 to “strengthen dialogue and co-operation on shared priorities in the semiconductor sector.”
Germany is looking to combine its complementary strengths in the semiconductor sector with Canada, he told The Hill Times. Canada is strong on the research and design of photonic AI chips, for example, he said, while Germany has a strong industrial production base for semiconductors.
Germany is also collaborating with Canada to explore building a stockpile of critical minerals, like Italy, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China for those minerals.
During his visit to Montreal, Rouenhoff visited the site of Canadian semiconductors producer 5N Plus and a mining project by Nouveau Monde Graphite.
All eyes on the submarine deal
Germany, in partnership with Norway, is vying for this country’s massive multi-billion-dollar contract to procure 12 submarines. It is competing with South Korea for the bid, the result of which is expected to be announced in the coming days.
The economic partnerships between Canada and Germany will “accelerate” if Germany’s submarine proposal is accepted, Rouenhoff said.
The deal would fill the commercial and other projects between Canada and Germany “with life,” he added.
rkachhela@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times