The last of the three legs that make up the European plan agreed by the Twenty-seven at the end of last March to boost the production capacity of all kinds of ammunition and missiles in the European Union (EU), and incidentally guarantee a sufficient supply to cover the needs of the army of Ukraine, It’s ready. The European Comission has proposed this Wednesday to inject €500 million of the Community budget until 2025 (to which another 500 million from Member States and companies would be added) to help the military industry of the Old Continent to step on the accelerator, so that it can supply at least one million rounds of ammunition within a year. “We want to help the European industry to change the paradigm, move to a mode of war economy& rdquor ;, summed up the commissioner for industry and the internal market, Thierry Breton.
“A contribution of 500 million euros would make it possible to offer an adequate incentive to the economic agents involved in the manufacture of the products of defending pertinent so that they begin to take measures to increase their production capacities and facilitate investment throughout the supply chain & rdquor ;, maintains the Community Executive in the proposed regulation entitled ‘Act in Support of Ammunition Production’ (ASAP), the acronym that also means ‘as soon as possible’. According to Brusselsthis European contribution, which will cover half of the investment -the other half will be in charge of governments or companies- will reduce production times while facilitating investment so that the industry can “produce more and faster & rdquor; , something crucial given the previous estimates of two and three years of waiting list.
The new legislative proposal will also allow the Commission and the Member States to anticipate shortage situations that affect the safety of the supply, mapping the status of stocks to identify and monitor the availability of ammunition and missiles and their components. The injection will also help support the industry cooperation and coordination of the supply of raw materials, removing regulatory obstacles and, ultimately, fostering the competitiveness of the European defense industry. To make co-financing possible, Brussels will allow European governments to redirect aid from Next Generation EU Fund and structural funds.
15 factories in 11 countries
Breton, who has made a round of visits to factories in different Member States, has identified around fifteen companies in 11 EU countries that have the capacity to produce the ammunition he needs kyivincluding Spain where he will go next Monday as the culmination of his mini-European tour. According to his diagnosis, the EU has a significant production capacity, greater even than that of USAbut limited by the lack of investment and the reduction in military spending in recent decades.
The objective, as he explained, is for the Council and European Parliament close a agreement as soon as possible, preferably before this summer, to launch orders as soon as possible. The instrument will be valid for two years and will cease to apply in mid-2025. “We have to speed up the supply of ammunition. Time is pressing & rdquor ;, also recalled the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrellwhich last week admitted that the first two legs of the plan are progressing more slowly than expected.
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“Believe me that we do everything we can to meet our commitments. I cannot specify a figure, because it changes every day, but it is true that the first ‘track’, which consists of delivering part of the military ‘stock’ of the Member States, has focused mainly on missiles, but the ammunition has some figures that do not reach the perspectives that I would like and would like to Dmytro Kuleba& rdquor ;, explained the high representative for European foreign policy. The first leg consists of sending ammunition from the arsenals for a value of 1,000 million euros.
The second refers to the implementation of joint purchases for a value of another 1,000 million euros. This last proposal was still awaiting a political agreement that, as announced by the Swedish presidency of the EU, the permanent ambassadors of the Twenty-seven have managed to close this Wednesday. “Finally white smoke. A very important decision in the Coreper (Committee of Permanent Representatives) on joint ammunition tenders, crucial to meet our goal of 1 million rounds of ammunition in 12 months,” the Lithuanian ambassador before the EU, Arnoldas Pranckevicius.