While the EU Council is expected to express its opinion on the institutional agreement on the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) on Monday, 8 December, several Member States have emphasised their concerns regarding the agreement, according to a document from the General Secretariat of the Council dated 3 December.
For example, Hungary has requested that the fact that it “does not support the creation of new EU financial instruments that contribute militarily to the war in Ukraine and endangers [sic] the success of peace negotiations” be recorded in the Council minutes. EDIP includes a Ukraine Support Instrument. “Therefore, Hungary abstains from the adoption of the EDIP Regulation”, [the statement concludes].
Greece, for its part, believes that “in the absence of a comprehensive and robust control framework in place, the existing text may allow for the participation of third countries, or third-country entities”, that do not share the same values, “which could affect the defence and security interests of the Union and its Member States”. It added, “In a spirit of flexibility and constructive approach, Greece will not vote against – nor abstain from – the final draft of the EDIP Regulation, provided that our relevant concerns be properly addressed in the course of its implementation”.
Likewise, while Cyprus supports EDIP’s adoption, it specifies that, in the context of the future multiannual financial framework, a rigorous procedure should be put in place to assess the security interests of the EU and its Member States and to ensure that collaboration with companies from third countries sharing the same values does not undermine these interests.
Finally, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands explain that industrial cooperation with their allies strengthens the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), as opposed to weakening it.
“Therefore, we emphasise that future EU instruments strengthening the EDTIB must also demonstrate sufficient flexibility in this regard. Eligibility criteria should take into account existing supply chains and the industrial cooperation with non-EU partners as well as allow to meet the capability requirements”, they stress in their statement.
In their view, greater flexibility will make it possible to reconcile immediate capability needs with Europe’s long-term strategic independence while guaranteeing support for Ukraine, ensuring strict coherence to NATO’s capability requirements, and strengthening interoperability.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/ju9 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)