The major defence file the new EU Parliament will have to tackle next term

Two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, European arms and defence stockpiles are running low, and the bloc’s industry is hesitating to invest in more production capabilities.

The European Commission presented the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) to speed up output and put the EU industry on a war footing.

The proposed long-term scheme includes funding of €1.5 billion until 2027.

It is the only proposed text on defence industry policy tabled by the EU executive to be forwarded to the hands of the next term’s EU lawmakers.

Defence files, when touching upon industry policy, are subject to the ordinary legislative procedure, contrary to the Council-led defence policy on capability priorities, missions, and operations.

It follows many short-term emergency programmes to motivate joint procurement and boost the industrial base, which end in the coming two years, such as the European defence industry reinforcement through the Common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) or the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP).

As defence industries benefit from a special relationship with the countries where they are established and are heavily protected by governments on national security grounds, the move from the EU executive to take a bigger role in matchmaking order and demand and monitoring supply chains and output has been a source of debates in the Council.

The proposed programme includes ideas already rejected by member states in the framework of ASAP last year.

The text was initially supposed to be presented in autumn 2023, allowing member state representatives and parliamentarians time to review and amend it. However, several delays before March mean that the Parliament—which ended its sitting in April—has not yet had a chance to appoint rapporteurs and study the proposal.

Meanwhile, national experts from member states started negotiating the file in April.

While the EU’s executive hoped for swift adoption by the end of 2024, diplomats and officials are already estimating a delay of at least six months, considering the file’s sensitivity and many questions diplomats raised.

The new European Parliament will pick up the work after the June elections once it has settled in.

However, it remains to be seen if it will involve several committees related to industry, the internal market, and security and defence, as it was for the previous programmes, or maybe a full-fledged security and defence one.

The disparity between the right-wing parties set to gain influence in the next parliamentary term will likely be divided between nationalist stances that stay clear of any EU involvement in the defence industry and pro-US and pro-market views against buy-European clauses.

Meanwhile, the EU left-wing parties’ manifestos show it is likely they will request to decrease funds for defence policy.

[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/ Alice Taylor]

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