Ukraine to gain access to the European Union Defense Fund (EDF) – European Council

The Council of Europe and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on measures to boost defence investment under the current EU budget to implement the so-called "ReArm Europe" plan, and the agreement also includes a decision to associate Ukraine with the European Defence Fund, the European Council website reported.

"The agreement reached today on incentivising defence-related investments in the current EU budget is an important milestone in implementing the ReArm Europe plan and in the EU’s progress towards increasing our defence readiness by 2030. We need to maximise our investments in defence and dual-use technologies to prepare for the future – together in Europe and with Ukraine," said Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

The EDF was created to increase the EU’s competitiveness and efficiency in the defence sector. The European Union authorities have allocated around EUR 9.5 billion to achieve these goals for the period from 2021 to 2027.

In particular, the legislators agreed to extend EU financial support under Horizon Europe to dual-use and defence-related enterprises, while largely maintaining the eligibility rules already in place in EU instruments such as SAFE (Security Instrument for Europe) and EDIP (European Defence Programme).

In addition, the legislators agreed to involve Ukraine in the European Defence Fund, thus creating new opportunities for Ukrainian economic operators to participate in future joint EU defence research and development.

As reported, ReArm Europe is an EU initiative aimed at increasing defence spending and strengthening military capabilities.