Brussels– Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, praised the provisional agreement on the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), a €1.5 billion initiative aimed at strengthening Europe’s defense sector and supporting Ukraine.
The deal, reached between the EU Council’s presidency and European Parliament negotiators, covers the years 2025–2027 and includes a dedicated €300 million allocation for the Ukraine Support Instrument. EDIP is designed to enhance defense industrial cooperation with Ukrainian enterprises while improving the EU’s overall defense preparedness, with future integration into the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) in mind.
“I applaud the agreement on the European Defence Industry Programme. This €1.5 billion investment will strengthen Europe’s defense sector, support Ukraine, and ensure we are defense-ready by 2030,” von der Leyen said in a post on X. “Investing in preparedness is investing in peace.”
The agreement also sets limits on sourcing components from outside the EU and associated countries, ensuring that no more than 35% of the final product’s estimated component cost comes from non-EU/EEA sources. This measure aims to balance European preference with collaboration with partner countries.
EDIP will create a centralized European military sales mechanism, offering a catalog of defense products, facilitating rapid equipment supply, and improving global competitiveness of the European defense industry. The program also allows the creation of defense product “pools” for faster deployment during emergencies.
The agreement builds on previous EU initiatives, including the Versailles Statement of 2022, which urged increased defense spending and reduced strategic dependency, and the ReArm Europe plan unveiled in March 2025, opening the way for up to €800 billion in European defense investments in the coming years.
