The Council of the EU adopted on Friday 5 May a €1 billion assistance measure under the European Peace Facility (EPF), which will finance the supply of 155 mm artillery rounds to the Ukrainian armed forces and, upon request, missiles to be jointly procured by the EU Member States from the European defence industry (see EUROPE 13137/10).
The measure will support the joint procurement of ammunition and missiles from economic operators established in the EU or Norway and producing such ammunition and missiles in those territories. The supply chains of these operators may include operators established or having their production outside the EU or Norway. The measure will also cover supplies of ammunition and missiles that have undergone an important stage of manufacture in the EU or Norway consisting of final assembly, the EU Council said in a statement (see EUROPE 13174/2).
To be eligible for reimbursement under the facility, public procurement contracts or purchase orders will have to be concluded before 30 September 2023 under an existing European Defence Agency (EDA) project or through complementary joint acquisition projects led by a Member State, the EU Council recalled in its statement.
With this measure, €5.6 billion under the EPF has been used to support the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)