Pandemic recovery funds may fuel EU’s ambitious defence expansion

Rushing to get its European Defence Industry Program, or EDIP, over the line before leaders meet in Brussels at the end of June, the EU is considering an array of drastic measures for that goal, including proposing member states to transfer unspent pandemic recovery money into the fund.

This development has been reported on by Bloomberg,  Caliber.Az informs.

Their article states that while this instrument, that will serve as a vehicle for the bloc’s future defence funding, is seemingly small with just €1.5 billion, it may grow rapidly.

According to the article, a key matter to still be discussed will be whether to allocate those funds for the purchase of US weapons, a thorny issue given delicate trade talks with Washington and the US administration's recent abrupt adjustments in foreign policy and security matters.

The European Union's Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius proposed an array of measures aimed at lightening the regulatory load for defence investments as part of the bloc’s push to boost its arms industry. During a meeting in Brussels on June 17, he urged that the bloc needs to adopt different regulations during times that require defence-readiness in comparison to those applied during peace time.

The European Commission has therefore put forward a blueprint for cutting red tape, which include the speeding up of procurement across the bloc, simplifying award criteria and eligibility checks for companies applying for funding as well as scaling-back bureaucracy will allow permits in the industry to be granted faster, while licensing changes will allow products to cross EU borders with less hassle. According to the article, another €650 billion will potentially be available to member states as part of a new mechanism allowing countries to deploy more funds from national budgets without penalties.

By Nazrin Sadigova