03/10/2025 (Agence Europe) – Ahead of the interinstitutional negotiation meeting (trilogue) on 7 October, the European Commission informed the Member States on Friday 3 October of its options for increasing the budget for the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP), as requested by the EU Council and the European Parliament at the last trilogue (see EUROPE 13715/20). The Commission considers that it would be possible to allow Member States to transfer, on a voluntary basis, unused funds from national plans of other programmes to EDIP, in particular the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’, as proposed by the Council in its position (see EUROPE 13664/24). It would be possible as well to use funds from third-country contributions to the SAFE programme, according to a source quoting the Commission. The latter would also continue to seek unused funds in the current Multiannual Financial Framework although no significant amount appears to be available in the 2026 budget. (CG)