European arms vendors push to shield EU coffers from Ukraine ammo aid

ROME — A plan by the European Union to spend €500 million ($555 million) on beefing up the bloc’s ammunition factories to help Ukraine risks draining much needed funds from long-term weapons development programs, a senior industrial official has said.

The EU deal to splash that amount of money on souping up the continent’s ammo making capacity edged a step closer to reality last week, as the EU Council agreed its plans with the European parliament, with a sign- off expected by end July.

The investment in Europe’s industrial output is the third element of the EU’s so-called Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), which also pays for states to donate existing stocks to Ukraine and funds joint procurement by members in a bid to supply Kyiv with one million artillery rounds in 12 months.

The problem is that €260 million of the €500 million promised for the ASAP investment will likely come from the 2024 budget of the European Defence Fund, which funds EU member states’ joint research and development of new weaponry.

“We are still awaiting the publication of the final text, but we assume the sources of funding will not change, and the use of the EDF-budget for ASAP is not a positive solution,” said Burkard Schmitt, the defense and security director at the Brussels-based Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD).

With a budget of around €8 billion for 2021-2027, the EDF has an annual budget of about a billion euros, meaning it will lose around a quarter of its 2024 funding when it hands over €260 million to bolster ammo production.

“We understand the pressure to fulfill immediate needs, but we need to be careful to avoid negative impacts on long-term objectives. If there is less investment in future capabilities, EU member states will be forced to depend more on off-the-shelf purchasing from abroad in the future,” said Schmitt.

One potential remedy was a €1.5 billion boost to EDF funding in 2025-2027, now being proposed by the EU Commission, he said.

“Europe’s defense industry is generally satisfied with the EDF – there has been a very positive reaction to it, even if there is always room for improvement,” he added.

In a statement released last week, the ASD praised the EU’s plan to incorporate a so-called ramp-up fund into its ammunition investment scheme, which aims to make it easier for firms to access private and public financing.

“This is a so-called blending mechanism already used by the EU in the past in other sectors, where you put public money on the table as a guarantee to encourage private investment. It mitigates the risk for private investors,” said Schmitt, who added the currently envisaged total was a maximum of €50 million maximum.

The industry group has called for the European Investment Bank – the lending arm oft he EU – to be involved, but Schmitt said member states were opposed to the idea.

“The EIB would be the natural candidate to handle the ramp-up fund but until now it has not been involved in core defense activities, only dual- use technology. The European Commission is in favor of a more active role of the EIB in defense, but certain member states are against,” he said.

Another measure that member states have questioned is the EU’s proposed power to regulate the ammunition market .

While they are positive about the idea of financially supporting industrial ramp-up, Schmitt said they have not welcomed most of the proposed regulatory measures aimed at the ammunition market.

The proposed authorities have raised fears that the EU would be able to make companies with a surplus of raw materials like explosives sell to firms with a shortage. The scenario has alarmed firms who fear they would be made to give up confidential inventory information and bail out competitors.

An EU spokesperson previously told Defense News that member states had expressed concerns the plan “could require the notification and possible violation of commercial secrets or sensitive information and hand too much power to the EU.”

Said Schmitt: “The member states’ position is to eliminate most of the regulatory provisions proposed by the Commission, and I believe (the EU) parliament has agreed, although we have yet to see the final text.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——一位高级工业官员表示，欧盟计划花费 5 亿欧元（5.55 亿美元）加强欧盟的弹药工厂，以帮助乌克兰，但这可能会耗尽长期武器研发计划中急需的资金。

欧盟斥巨资提升欧洲大陆弹药制造能力的协议上周又向前迈进了一步，欧盟理事会与欧洲议会就该计划达成一致，预计将于7月底正式签署。

对欧洲工业产出的投资是欧盟所谓的《支持弹药生产法案》（ASAP）的第三个要素，该法案还支付各国向乌克兰捐赠现有库存的费用，并资助成员国联合采购，以期在 12 个月内向基辅供应 100 万发炮弹。

问题是，承诺用于 ASAP 投资的 5 亿欧元中的 2.6 亿欧元很可能来自 2024 年欧洲防务基金的预算，该基金为欧盟成员国联合研发新型武器提供资金。

“我们仍在等待最终文本的公布，但我们认为资金来源不会改变，而将 EDF 预算用于 ASAP 并不是一个积极的解决方案，”总部位于布鲁塞尔的欧洲航空航天、安全和国防工业协会 (ASD) 的国防和安全主管 Burkard Schmitt 表示。

法国国防军 2021-2027 年的预算约为 80 亿欧元，其年度预算约为 10 亿欧元。这意味着，当法国国防军拨出 2.6 亿欧元用于加强弹药生产时，其 2024 年的资金将减少约四分之一。

施密特表示：“我们理解满足当前需求的压力，但我们需要谨慎行事，避免对长期目标产生负面影响。如果对未来能力的投资减少，欧盟成员国未来将被迫更多地依赖从国外采购现成产品。”

他表示，一个可能的补救措施是欧盟委员会目前提议在 2025-2027 年期间向欧洲发展基金 (EDF) 增加 15 亿欧元的资金。

“欧洲国防工业界对EDF总体上感到满意——反响非常积极，尽管它总有改进的空间，”他补充道。

在上周发布的一份声明中，ASD 赞扬了欧盟将所谓的“加速基金”纳入其弹药投资计划的方案，该方案旨在使企业更容易获得私人和公共融资。

施密特表示：“这是一种所谓的混合机制，欧盟过去曾在其他领域使用过，即投入公共资金作为担保，以鼓励私人投资。这可以降低私人投资者的风险。”他还补充说，目前设想的总额最高为5000万欧元。

该行业组织呼吁欧盟的贷款机构——欧洲投资银行参与其中，但施密特表示，成员国反对这一想法。

“欧洲投资银行是管理这笔增产基金的理想之选，但迄今为止，它并未参与核心国防活动，而只涉足两用技术。欧盟委员会赞成欧洲投资银行在国防领域发挥更积极的作用，但部分成员国持反对意见，”他说道。

成员国质疑的另一项措施是欧盟提议赋予其监管弹药市场的权力。

施密特表示，虽然他们对通过财政支持工业扩张的想法持积极态度，但他们并不欢迎大多数针对弹药市场的拟议监管措施。

拟议的授权引发了人们的担忧，即欧盟可能会迫使拥有过剩原材料（例如炸药）的公司向短缺的公司出售原材料。这种情况令相关公司感到震惊，他们担心自己会被迫交出机密的库存信息，并出手救助竞争对手。

欧盟发言人此前告诉《防务新闻》，成员国曾表示担忧，该计划“可能需要通知并可能侵犯商业秘密或敏感信息，并赋予欧盟过大的权力”。

施密特说：“成员国的立场是取消委员会提出的大部分监管条款，我相信（欧盟）议会也同意这一点，尽管我们还没有看到最终文本。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。