On 5 March, the European Commission adopted the first ever European Defence Industry Strategy (EDIS) in the form of a Communication and a European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) in the form of a proposed Regulation.
This package is about building EU defence readiness by fostering cooperation between Member States, supporting intra EU defence trade and Member States' cooperation with industry.
The Strategy sets out a number of targets. By 2030, EU countries should:
- buy at least 40% of the defence equipment by working together
- spend at least half of their defence procurement budget on products made in Europe
- trade at least 35% of defence goods between EU countries instead of with other countries
The accompanying proposed Regulation also includes Ukraine to help reinforce its military capacities.
Based on the work done for the past Opinion "Proposal for a European Defence Fund", some regions have strong industrial defence companies, or dual-use ones (products used for both military and civilian use).
In that report, it was also put on the radar that there must be defence industry right at the Eastern European border to have some kind of dissuasive effect. Given the renewed interest in defence and the EU funding which is expected to be provided, an Opinion could be of added-value.
Indicative adoption timeline:
- 15 May 2024: appointment in ECON
- 4 July 2024: exchange of views in ECON
- 11 December 2024: discussion and adoption in ECON
- January/February 2025 (TBC): adoption in Plenary
This opinion based on mixed legislative/non legislative documents would cost 5 points.