The European Parliament (EP) approved this Tuesday to strengthen the defense industry in the European Union (EU) through common public contracts and reinforce it with a budget of 300 million euros until the end of 2025.
The legislation was approved with 530 votes in favor, 66 against and 32 abstentions and only the ‘green light’ from the Council is missing for its implementation.
Negotiations with the Council concluded at the end of June and the legislation will establish a short-term instrument to strengthen this industry with common public contracts until December 31, 2025.
In this way, the EU wants countries to fill existing gaps, aggravated by sending equipment, ammunition and vehicles to Ukraine to help the country invaded a year and a half ago to counter the Russian invasion.
The instrument will be financed with a budget of 300 million euros and each joint acquisition must involve at least three Member States and must be open to the participation of elements of the European Free Trade Association and the countries of the European Economic Area.
Contractors and subcontractors must be located in the EU or an associated country and cannot be under the control of a third country or non-associated entity.
The EU’s financial contribution to each action will be limited to 15% of the estimated value of the common contract for each consortium, a limit that can be increased to 20% if Ukraine and Moldova were beneficiaries of additional quantities of defense products.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the 27 have been sending equipment, vehicles, including tanks such as the Leopard 02 A6, and ammunition to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces confront Russian troops, prompting the rapid loss of weight of the “stocks” of the Member States. For this reason, and to also fulfill the promise of sending one million large-caliber munitions at the beginning of next year, Brussels embarked on a strategy to strengthen defense capabilities.
Source: TSF
