The EPP group would like to strengthen EU support for sending military equipment to Ukraine by means of a proposal for an EU law on leasing.
According to the group, this act should be designed to temporarily facilitate trade in arms and weapons with beneficiary countries (i.e. Ukraine) by providing pre-financing for exports and eliminating export controls on weaponry.
“The idea is to make things less bureaucratic to help our Ukrainian friends”, explained the Chair of the EPP group, Manfred Weber (Germany), on Tuesday 3 May.
Ukraine would be able to purchase, lend or lease an unrestricted quantity of weapons directly from European producers, according the draft obtained by EUROPE. According to the EPP, orders would be placed with producers by the beneficiary country and then pre-financed by the European Peace Facility.
The EPP group has also proposed an exemption from all national and EU export controls on arms and dual-use goods. “The weapons could therefore be exported quickly from manufacturers to recipient countries without any administrative delay”, he explained.
The group is specifying that the designation of beneficiary countries should be the subject of an EU Council decision and subject to annual renewal.
“In the long term, this initiative can serve as a basis for a single market in Europe for military goods, which is clearly lacking”, Weber said.
The draft, which was proposed by Sven Simon (Germany), was agreed at the EPP Group Bureau in Prague last week.
At the opening of the plenary session on Monday 2 May, the EPP group requested that a Commission statement on “The call for a legislative proposal on a European leasing regulation” be added to the plenary agenda on Wednesday afternoon, with a resolution due to be voted on Thursday. The Renew Europe group opposed this. While reiterating its support for sending military equipment to Ukraine, it has asked for more time to study the proposal. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Solenn Paulic)