On Friday 23 June, the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) reached a political agreement in principle (‘general approach’) on the proposal for an Ammunition Production Support Act (ASAP) presented at the beginning of May by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13174/1).
This initiative, with a budget of €500 million, aims to support the ramp-up of manufacturing capabilities for the production of ground-to-ground ammunition, artillery ammunition and missiles.
“We must do everything we can to help the European defence industrial base produce more in order to ensure our own security and give Ukraine the means to defend itself”, Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson said in a statement.
The Council has confirmed the main elements of the proposed regulation, in particular the financial support instrument for production capacities and the ramp-up fund designed to facilitate access to private capital for ammunition and missile producers.
The ambition of the provisions designed to remove regulatory barriers within the single market has been scaled back. The Member States approve the possibility of derogating from the directive governing the award of defence contracts. On the other hand, other elements have been deleted from the legislative text, officially to allow the negotiations to move forward quickly. This concerns in particular intra-European transfers of ammunition parts, mapping of available products, priority rated orders and sanctions, according to a European source.
ASAP is the third part of the EU’s proposal to supply one million munitions to Ukraine within 12 months.
Trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament are due to begin on Tuesday 27 June. MEPs adopted the Commission’s initial proposal (see EUROPE 13192/9) unchanged. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)