Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Brussels unveils plan to boost EU defense industry

Brussels unveils plan to boost EU defense industry

Contentiously, the framework would allow tapping new sources of EU money.

European Commission industry chief Thierry Breton has urged European defense companies to get into “war economy mode” as he unveiled a new plan to boost weapons manufacturing across the EU.

The Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) agreed Wednesday by the European Commission will pump some €500 million from the EU budget into European shell factories to boost weapons manufacturing — matched with co-financing of around €500 million from member countries and other sources.

The aim is to produce 1 million rounds of ammunition within one year.

“In Europe, we still have a real production capacity. It’s there,” Breton said in announcing the plan Wednesday. “What we need to do now is to bring up capacity.”

The framework would controversially permit dipping into new pots of EU cash originally intended for boosting development around the Continent.

In visiting a dozen-plus producers across the EU, the French commissioner says that many sites already have the infrastructure required to make vast amounts of large ammunition. Much of the focus will be on refitting old ammunition.

“In addition to the direct budget, we are also freeing up funding from the cohesion funds,” Breton told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook on Tuesday, “and also the RRF [Recovery and Resilience Facility funds] for those member states that wish to co-finance their defense industry.” Such funding, Breton argued, “will hopefully re-trigger access to private financing, either via the European Investment Bank, or from [private] banks.”

It’s part of a push to use the EU budget to produce ammo.

Asked Wednesday how he justified dipping into the cohesion and RRF funds for European defense, Breton pointed out that many factories were built in isolated areas. As a result, cohesion funds are “entirely appropriate and well-suited” and would “support our industrial base.”

Similarly, he said that the RRF “will increase our resilience … and our security is clearly part of that.”

He also noted that it will be up to member countries to access cohesion funds.

VMZ Sopot armaments factory, Bulgaria. The EU Commission is to pump €500 million into European shell factories to boost weapons manufacturing


But an EU diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, has said that even if use of these funding sources “is resolved and legally possible, recovery plans and programming for cohesion funds have already been agreed,” meaning they would have to be renegotiated with the Commission in order to become available.

“Those are difficult and time-consuming processes … so how feasible is it that funds from either source would be available within a reasonable timeframe?” the diplomat added.

The latest defense proposal unveiled by the Commission represents the third of a three-track process spearheaded by European leaders in the wake of the war in Ukraine as the EU scrambles to boost its defense capacity and develop a pan-EU defense strategy.

European leaders agreed to the three-track approach at the end of March.

Parallel to Wednesday’s announcement, EU ambassadors on Wednesday reached a preliminary agreement on the so-called track 2 element of the defense proposal, which aims to spend €1 billion on joint procurement of ammunition and missiles over the next year.

The deal was announced by Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council, and will become official on Friday if no member country objects.

The challenge was to agree on the legal framework for track 2. Countries had been squabbling over the terms of the program, with some — notably France — reluctant to include non-EU manufacturers in the supply chain.

Speaking today about track 3, Breton said, “We want of course [that] projects are produced in Europe.”

The compromise text for track 2, seen by POLITICO, states that “ammunitions and missiles which have undergone an important stage of manufacture in the Union or Norway which consists of final assembly shall be deemed eligible.”

A different EU diplomat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, praised Swedish agility in the negotiations: “The Presidency has done a very good job of combining the need to devote track 2 to the European defense industry, so that it ramps up in the production of ammunition and missiles … and the specific characteristics of the defense industry of each of the member states.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Budapest Post
Close
0:00
0:00
Spain soccer kiss: Furore grows as prosecutors launch probe against federation chief
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Greek PM offers tourists affected by wildfires a free stay in Rhodes next year.
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
How “peacekeepers” at the UN spend our American tax dollars.
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
Swedish Embassy in Baghdad Engulfed in Flames Amidst a Firestorm of Protests
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Muslim Tycoon Asif Aziz Receives Approval for the Transformation of the iconic London Trocadero Landmark into Mosque
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Hospitalized Due to Dehydration Amidst Summer Heatwave
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
×