EUROPEAN DEFENCE FUND (EDF) – 1st call for proposals for industrial reinforcement actions under the Programme – 2026

Objective

To strengthen the competitiveness, responsiveness and ability of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) to reinforce EU industrial production capacity for energetic components that constitute critical bottlenecks for key defence product across land, air, naval and underwater domains.

Priorities

• Priority 1: criticality of the targeted defence product and associated production capacity and urgency of reinforcing availability and security of supply
• Priority 2: industrial reinforcement plan supported by a risk management approach that addresses the identified risks and the measures to ensure availability and security of supply, including risks specific to energetic materials

Eligibility

• Be legal entities (public or private bodies)
• Be established in one of the eligible countries:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories)
  • Non-EU states: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the EDIP Programme (‘EDIP associated countries’; list of participating countries)
• The applicants must have their executive management structure established in eligible countries.
• Beneficiaries and affiliated entities must register in the Participant Register before submitting the proposal.
• Single applicants or consortia may apply.
• Consortia must not exceed 15 legal entities.
• A consortium composed of at least 3 independent entities from 2 different EU Member States must be constituted (see details on call document).

Additional information

• Initial duration of the action: between 36 and 60 months

Projects of longer duration may be accepted in duly justified cases. Extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment.

• Contact: DEFIS-EDIP-PROPOSALS@ec.europa.eu

Useful

• Guidelines: Click here
• Other call documents: Click here
• DG website: Click here
• More information: Click here

• Total budget of the call: 166.4 million euros
• Amount of the grant: maximum 30.000.000 euros

The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.

• Funding rate: up to 35% of the total eligible costs

If the project is a priority action, an application for a higher funding rate is possible (see details on call document).

This grant is a lump sum grant.