On 27 June, 2023, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement paving the way for the adoption of the European Defence Industry Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act (EDIRPA). The regulation will encourage member states to jointly procure weapons and, as a result, enhance interoperability at the supranational level (Council of the EU, 2023). To do so, the Council and the Parliament have foreseen a partial reimbursement scheme for states who, in consortia of at least three, are willing to pool their demand and jointly procure defence products (Council of the EU, 2023). At the same time, equal distribution of available funds is ensured by a 15% cap (Council of the EU, 2023).

Most relevantly, the agreement set strict eligibility criteria for (sub-)contractors, defence products and projects to receive funding (Council of the EU, 2023). First, contractors have to be established in and have their executive management structures in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway (Council of the EU, 2023). Secondly, contractors must use facilities and resources placed in the Union area or associated third countries, unless EU producers lack relevant infrastructure there (Council of the EU, 2023). Thirdly, the procurable products should not be subject to limitations by non-associated states, except for urgent and critical defence ones in use within the consortium prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine (Council of the EU, 2023).

The invasion acted as a game changer, since it made Member States eager to increase their defence expenditure, boost joint projects, promote civil/military synergies and strengthen their defence industries with the overarching objective to protect their populations (Council of the EU, n.d.). The commitment to “bolster European defence capabilities”, taken at the March 2022 European Council meeting in Versailles (European Council, 2022, p. 3), went in that direction and laid the foundations for legislative progress. On 19 July, to address the most critical needs for defence products resulting from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Commission presented its proposal for the EDIRPA (European Commission, 2022), with which it pledged to commit €500 million from the EU budget until 2024 (Council of the EU, n.d.).

On 1 December, the Council adopted a general approach on how to boost common procurement and strengthen the competitiveness of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (Council of the EU, 2022), which set up the backbone for the recent agreement, which must now receive the Parliament and the Council’s definitive endorsement through the ordinary legislative procedure (Council of the EU, 2023). Overall, as Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson put it, the joint procurement of defence materiel will, on the one hand, help boost the efficiency of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base and, on the other, allow EU MSs to refill their ammunition stocks in light of their depletion through donations to Ukraine (Council of the EU, 2023).

References

Council of the EU. (n.d.). European defence industry procurement. Council of the EU. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/european-defence-industry/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=20230627-defence-industry-edirpa&utm_content=visual-carousel.

Council of the EU. (2022, 1 December). EU defence industry: Council reaches general approach on boosting common procurement. Council of the EU. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/01/eu-defence-industry-council-reaches-general-approach-on-boosting-common-procurement/.

Council of the EU. (2023, 27 June). EU defence industry: Council and European Parliament agree on new rules to boost common procurement. Council of the EU. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2023/06/27/eu-defence-industry-council-and-european-parliament-agree-on-new-rules-to-boost-common-procurement/?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EU+defence+industry%3a+Council+and+European+Parliament+agree+on+new+rules+to+boost+common+procurement.

European Commission. (2022, 19 July). Proposal for a regulation on establishing the European defence industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act, COM(2022) 349 final. European Commission. https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-11531-2022-INIT/en/pdf.

European Council. (2022, 10-11 March). Informal meeting of the Heads of State or Government – Versailles Declaration. European Council. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/54773/20220311-versailles-declaration-en.pdf.