Commission welcomes Member States' approval of five joint European defence projects

The European Commission welcomes the Member States' decision to approve the first five European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCI). These projects will strengthen Europe's defence capabilities by jointly developing key military systems, and following today's decision, they can now move into the funding phase. Under the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), which has a budget of EUR 1.5 billion, the Commission has allocated EUR 325 million to support the creation and deployment of EDPCIs. Today's decision is a key outcome of EDIP, which aims to support Europe's defence industry in scaling up production capacity and to help develop the military capabilities essential to the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States. The industrial projects focus on five priority areas: drones and counter-drone systems, maritime and seabed defence, space, air and missile defence, and strengthening security along the EU's eastern flank. These projects emerged from a call for expressions of interest that the Commission addressed to Member States to submit proposals for possible EDPCIs.