On Tuesday 13 July, François Arbault,Director for the Defence Industry at the European Commission, detailed the agenda for the European Defence Fund (EDF) for 2021 before the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Subcommittee.
On 30 June, the European Commission launched 23 separate calls for proposals for European Defence Fund projects (see EUROPE 12753/20). The consortia now have until 31 December - a deadline that is considered short - to submit their proposals. These will be evaluated in the first half of 2022. Before the end of next year, decisions on the winners will be made and agreements for the grants prepared.
When asked about the risk of funds being scattered and spread too thinly, Mr Arbault was reassuring. “We are aware of this and have been engaged in a very intense exercise with Member States to prepare this initial work programme”, he explained. Of the 750 priority topics identified by the Member States, 37 were selected. The Director added that fifteen categories of action have been identified. These will be stable throughout the life cycle of the programme.
Mr Arbault also explained that the EU had anticipated that some of the funds in the 2022 budget - EUR 290 million - would go to certain sectors (air combat, missile defence and ground combat), “to show that these priority areas have envelopes that are commensurate with the issues at stake”.
Furthermore, Mr Arbault recalled that at the request of the European Council in February 2021, the Commission will present a technology roadmap for defence and security in October. He explained that the aim of the roadmap is to ensure that “technology and equipment dependencies are identified and mitigated so that freedom of action and strategic autonomy are not undermined by these dependencies”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)