📋 Tender Overview
The Commission has approved funding for five cross-border projects to support more coordinated and efficient defence procurement among EU Member States. Implemented under the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement instrument (EDIRPA), each of the 5 selected projects will receive €60 million, representing a total amount of €300 million funding.
Bringing greater value for money through economies of scale, the common procurement will make critical defence capabilities more affordable for Member States' armed forces. With products procured in common, Member States' armed forces will have improved interoperability. The clearer perspectives and greater predictability, which come with larger contracts, will strengthen the European industry, and allow it to adapt its production capacity to Europe's defence needs. All in all, the common procurement will reinforce defence readiness in the EU Member States.
Leveraging procurement of more than €11 billion worth of defence products for the armed forces of the Member States
Marking a new era in European defence cooperation, the Commission has announced the first-ever EU-funded projects supporting common procurement of critical defence products by the Member States, in three areas:
• Procurement of air and missile defence systems
Two projects will bolster joint air and missile defence capabilities. The ‘MISTRAL' project supports the common procurement of ‘Mistral' very short-range air defence systems by nine Member States (FR, BE, CY, EE, ES, HU, SI, RO, DK). Another project, ‘JAMIE' (for ‘Joint Air Missile Defence Initiative in Europe), will result in the common procurement of IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence systems by six Member States (DE, SI, BG, AT, EE, LV). These are systems for protection against air threats such as combat aircraft, attack helicopters and unmanned air systems.
• Procurement of modern armoured vehicles
EDIRPA will also support the procurement of the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS), a modern armoured carrier for protected troop transport, by four Member States (FI, LV, SE, DE). The modern armoured vehicles offer high performance and unprecedented mobility.
• Procurement of ammunition
In two further projects, EDIRPA will support the common procurement of different types of 155mm artillery ammunition, namely the project ‘CPoA 155mm' involving six Member States (NL, IT, PL, LT, DK, HR) and the project ‘HE 155mm' involving four Member States (DE, DK, NL, EE).
The five selected projects represent a combined procurement value exceeding €11 billion, illustrating the high leverage of EU funding. EDIRPA's €300 million investment has incentivized a commitment over 36 times larger, demonstrating the programme's effectiveness in driving substantial defence investments across the EU.
The five selected EDIRPA projects, for all three areas, will now enter the grant agreement preparation phase, involving detailed coordination between the Commission and the consortia of Member States' public authorities.
In addition to the selected projects, other promising proposals were submitted. They have been added to a reserve list making them identifiable for potential future funding. For instance, the Member States involved in these proposals could seek to financially support them by transferring unused EU funds allocated to them under shared management.
Impressive number of EU Member States participating
The selected EDIRPA projects involve 20 Member States, some of which will engage in common defence procurements projects for the first time. This reflects EDIRPA's role in encouraging collaboration among Member States to address critical capability gaps, in particular those exacerbated by the transfer of defence products to Ukraine. On average, six Member States are participating in each project —double the minimum legal requirement of three Member States— showing the interest towards a more unified European approach to defence procurement.
Supporting Ukraine
Most selected projects also include procurement of defence products intended for Ukraine, including air and missile defence systems and ammunition, bolstering the country's defence capabilities in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression.
