Brussels will allocate 500 million to relaunch the manufacture of ammunition in the European Union

“We want to help the European defense industry to change its paradigm, to switch to a war economy mode“, argues the Commissioner for the Internal Market, the French Thierry Breton. The Commission of Ursula von der Leyen has presented this Wednesday its Ammunition Production Support Law (ASAP), which includes a new allocation of 500 million euros from the community budget to relaunch the manufacture of artillery shells in Europe.

Brussels will also allow European governments to redirect part of the structural funds and Next Generation aid to immediately increase the production capacity of the military industry community.

“The conflict is putting pressure on our industrial production capacity to sustain the effort in the long term. It is about produce more to make up for reduced stocks in our Member States for supplying Ukraine with the munitions it needs,” Breton said.

[La UE aprueba el plan de Borrell para enviar a Ucrania un millón de proyectiles de artillería]

The ultimate objective of the Ammunition Production Support Law is to increase, within a period of 12 months the production capacity of the European industry up to one million shells a year.

While waiting for these figures to be reached, the Community Executive maintains pressure on the Member States so that they send to Ukraine the ammunition that you still have in your reserves and redirect the contracts already signed with the industry. In addition, the EU is finalizing a mechanism for the joint purchase of projectiles, the approval of which was unblocked precisely this Wednesday after the dispute between Poland and France was resolved.

To prepare the ASAP Law (acronym that in English means as soon as possible), the Internal Market commissioner has made a tour of the ammunition factories that exist in 11 member countrieswhich will conclude with a visit to Spain next Monday.

His conclusion is that Europe has a good production base, but that most plants now have reduced activity which is explained by the “peace dividend” of the last decades.

Breton argues that the European budget of 500 million will be enough to speed up projectile production. This money will be used to optimize, expand, modernize, improve or reuse existing production capacities; establish new manufacturing lines; facilitate cross-border alliances or train the necessary workers.

EU money will cover half of the investmentwhile the rest will have to be put up by the companies or the Member States, with which the minimum investment will amount to 1,000 million.

In parallel, the Ammunition Production Support Law aims to remove regulatory hurdles that complicate the activity of these companies, speeding up authorizations and permits, for example.

The regulation has to be debated and approved both by the Governments of the Twenty-seven and by the European Parliament. Brussels calls for a “rapid” adoption, before the summer of 2023, to start supporting manufacturers of artillery shells and missiles as soon as possible. The instrument will cease to apply in mid-2025.