EU approves first-ever funding for joint weapons, ammo procurement

PARIS — The executive arm of the European Union approved €300 million (US$317 million) in funding for five joint defense-procurement projects by member states, the first time the bloc uses its budget to finance common defense buying.

The European Commission will provide €60 million for each of the items on its shopping list, which include the Mistral short-range air defense system, IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense system, armored vehicles and ammunition, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The joint-procurement mechanism is a new step in the 27-nation bloc’s attempts to become a more credible player in defense, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amid concerns about Europe’s reliance on the U.S. for security. The EU in March presented its first-ever defense industrial strategy, and this year created the role of defense commissioner for the bloc.

“This is the first time we use EU budget to support member states in commonly procuring defense products,” the Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

“This will allow to provide better value for money for national defense budgets, improve the interoperability of European armed forces, strengthen our industry and make Europe better prepared to face defense threats,” Verstager said. She said the five projects will also increase EU support to Ukraine with additional defense equipment.

The EU has set out targets for member states to buy at least 40% of their defense equipment together by 2030, as well as spend at least half of their procurement budgets on products made in Europe. The commission says the benefits of joint procurement include economies of scale, better interoperability between EU countries’ armed forces, and larger contracts that will strengthen the European defense industry and allow it to adapt production capacity to the continent’s needs.

The financing is being made available through an instrument called European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement, EDIRPA for short.

The commission approved funds for nine countries, including France, Spain, Hungary and Romania, which are jointly buying MBDA’s Mistral very short-range air defense systems. Six member states, including Germany and Bulgaria, will receive a financial contribution for their joint purchase of Diehl’s IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense system.

EDIRPA will also support joint procurement by Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Germany of the Common Armoured Vehicle System, an armored troop carrier based on Patria’s six-wheeled vehicle. Two projects approved to receive EU funds are for joint acquisition of 155mm artillery ammunition.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——欧盟执行机构批准拨款 3 亿欧元（3.17 亿美元）用于成员国的五个联合国防采购项目，这是欧盟首次动用预算为共同国防采购提供资金。

欧盟委员会周四在一份声明中表示，将为采购清单上的每项物品提供 6000 万欧元，其中包括“西北风”短程防空系统、“IRIS-T SLM”中程防空系统、装甲车和弹药。

为应对俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以及欧洲安全对美国依赖的担忧，欧盟27个成员国推出了联合采购机制，旨在努力成为防务领域更具公信力的角色。今年3月，欧盟发布了首个国防工业战略，并设立了欧盟防务专员一职。

“这是我们首次动用欧盟预算来支持成员国共同采购国防产品，”欧盟委员会执行副主席玛格丽特·维斯塔格在一份声明中表示。

“这将有助于提高各国国防预算的性价比，提升欧洲各国武装部队的互操作性，增强我们的工业实力，并使欧洲更好地应对国防威胁，”维斯塔格表示。她还表示，这五个项目还将增加欧盟对乌克兰的支持，提供更多国防装备。

欧盟已设定目标，要求成员国到2030年至少40%的国防装备由欧盟成员国联合采购，并且至少一半的采购预算用于购买欧洲制造的产品。欧盟委员会表示，联合采购的优势包括规模经济、欧盟成员国武装部队之间更好的互操作性，以及更大的合同规模，这将增强欧洲国防工业的实力，并使其能够根据欧洲大陆的需求调整生产能力。

资金是通过一项名为“欧洲国防工业共同采购强化计划”（简称 EDIRPA）的工具提供的。

欧盟委员会批准向包括法国、西班牙、匈牙利和罗马尼亚在内的九个国家提供资金，用于联合采购MBDA公司的“西北风”（Mistral）超短程防空系统。包括德国和保加利亚在内的六个成员国将获得财政资助，用于联合采购迪尔公司的“IRIS-T SLM”中程防空系统。

EDIRPA还将支持芬兰、拉脱维亚、瑞典和德国联合采购通用装甲车辆系统，这是一种基于Patria六轮车辆的装甲运兵车。另有两个项目获准获得欧盟资金，用于联合采购155毫米火炮弹药。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。