PARIS — The executive arm of the European Union approved €300 million (US$317 million) in funding for five joint defense-procurement projects by member states, the first time the bloc uses its budget to finance common defense buying.
The European Commission will provide €60 million for each of the items on its shopping list, which include the Mistral short-range air defense system, IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense system, armored vehicles and ammunition, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The joint-procurement mechanism is a new step in the 27-nation bloc’s attempts to become a more credible player in defense, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amid concerns about Europe’s reliance on the U.S. for security. The EU in March presented its first-ever defense industrial strategy, and this year created the role of defense commissioner for the bloc.
“This is the first time we use EU budget to support member states in commonly procuring defense products,” the Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
“This will allow to provide better value for money for national defense budgets, improve the interoperability of European armed forces, strengthen our industry and make Europe better prepared to face defense threats,” Verstager said. She said the five projects will also increase EU support to Ukraine with additional defense equipment.
The EU has set out targets for member states to buy at least 40% of their defense equipment together by 2030, as well as spend at least half of their procurement budgets on products made in Europe. The commission says the benefits of joint procurement include economies of scale, better interoperability between EU countries’ armed forces, and larger contracts that will strengthen the European defense industry and allow it to adapt production capacity to the continent’s needs.
The financing is being made available through an instrument called European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement, EDIRPA for short.
The commission approved funds for nine countries, including France, Spain, Hungary and Romania, which are jointly buying MBDA’s Mistral very short-range air defense systems. Six member states, including Germany and Bulgaria, will receive a financial contribution for their joint purchase of Diehl’s IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense system.
EDIRPA will also support joint procurement by Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany of the Common Armoured Vehicle System, an armored troop carrier based on Patria’s six-wheeled vehicle. Two projects approved to receive EU funds are for joint acquisition of 155mm artillery ammunition.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
