EU Allocates €300 Million to Support Ukraine in New Defence Programme
The European Council and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on the European Defense Industry Program (EDIP), which provides, among other things, for the allocation of €300 million to deepen defense cooperation with Ukraine.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to a press release from the European Council of the European Union.
The agreement provides for €1.5 billion in EU defense funding for 2025-2027, with the aim of enhancing Europe's defense readiness and strengthening cooperation with Ukraine.
EDIP aims to strengthen the competitiveness and responsiveness of the European Defense Technology Industrial Base (EDTIB) and provides a first-of-its-kind mechanism to ensure the security of defense product supplies to the EU.
The program also establishes a legal framework for long-term cooperation in the field of armaments between member states and creates a European mechanism for the sale of military products, which will include a centralized catalog and “pools” of defense products for rapid delivery.
The EDIP pays particular attention to supporting Ukraine. The Ukraine Support Instrument will receive €300 million to attract Ukrainian companies to the European defense industry and facilitate their integration into the EDTIB.
In addition, Ukraine's participation in the EDPCI and a potential budget increase for future initiatives, including the Defense Supply Chain Transformation Acceleration Fund (FAST), are envisaged.
According to Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen, the program will strengthen the EU's ability to produce critical defense equipment and deepen its partnership with Ukraine.
“The European Defence Industry Programme is key to Europe's defence readiness. It will boost our capacity to produce and supply critical defence equipment and ensure that we can respond swiftly and decisively to the increasingly complex security environment. At the same time, it will deepen our partnership with Ukraine by bringing its defence industry closer to ours - to the mutual benefit of Europe and Ukraine,” he said.
As The Gaze informed earlier, the European Commission is weighing a proposal to expand its planned “reparations loan” for Ukraine by tapping an additional €25 billion in frozen Russian assets held in private accounts across the European Union.