“This year we have decided to mobilize one billion euros from the EU budget to develop joint defense projects, especially in the field of space, cybersecurity and various high-tech areas,” said Thierry Breton, member of the European Commission for the internal market. In our new security context, these investments will help narrow the European defense gap.

He explained that a €2 billion EU defense innovation program is also being launched to “turn Europe into a center for defense innovation.” In addition to the European Defense Fund’s investment efforts to build capacity, EU countries must now move towards common defense procurement, in line with the European Commission’s proposal to EU leaders.

The European Commission said in a statement that one of the European Union’s Defense Innovation Scheme (EUDIS) 2022 “introduces a number of new tools to promote defense innovation.” The report states that EUDIS will work closely with the European Defense Fund Innovation Centre.