From the next 2021-2027 period, the European Defence Fund will be created. The purpose of this fund will be to provide grants for Research and Innovation projects to develop an innovative and competitive Defence industrial base.

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted the partial agreement on the EU Defence Fund for 2021-2027. Parliament is advocating a budget of 11.5 billion euro at 2018 prices (13 billion euro at current prices). However, this amount has yet to be negotiated in the context of discussions on the EU’s budget for the period 2021-2027.

A prerequisite for the European Defence Fund is already being implemented today through the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP). Indeed, for the 2019-2020 period, many calls for proposals have been or will be issued, for a total budget of 525 million euros.

The newly elected Parliament will continue negotiations with Member States on outstanding issues.