EU hopes to clear hurdles for joint arms purchase to aid Ukraine
Some countries of the European Union wish to approve a deal for the joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine.
If the European Union cannot produce enough of them quickly at its own enterprises, it plans ammo procurement outside the bloc, Euractiv reports.
"Some EU member states want to be allowed to buy ammunition for Ukraine outside the Union, if Europe cannot produce it quickly," the portal informs.
Euractiv cites three EU diplomats.
"We don't know if the European industry can produce according to the needs. If it's not able to do it fast and in big amounts, we should be allowed to look towards third countries,"
Potential non-European suppliers could include the United States and South Korea.
EU defense ministers last week agreed in principle to use €2 billion from the bloc's European Peace Facility (EPF), an off-EU budget fund, to finance the first two tracks.
While the EU27 seem to have reached an agreement that €1 billion will be used to send shells from their existing but largely depleted stocks, discussions remain over other "how to use" the other €1 billion, according to three EU diplomats.
On Friday, negotiations on the EU's joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine will continue. However, the question of whether EU countries can purchase ammunition from foreign countries and what part of the total funds can be used for this remains unsettled. It is also still unclear who should be responsible for joint procurement – the European Defense Agency or a specific country.
European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is currently touring member states that have the potential to ramp up ammunition production – having visited Bulgaria and expected to next travel to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, France, and Romania.
However, some member states wish to be allowed to purchase ammunition outside the EU for Ukraine if Europe cannot produce it domestically and fast.
The war "is currently in one of its most dangerous phases", which would make ammunition "one of the main priorities", an EU senior official told reporters last week.
However, on the other of the debate, France, Greece and Cyprus believe that the EU member states' money should be used exclusively for EU-based industry.
Member states are also divided over which procurement agent to use, between the existing European Defence Agency (EDA) or a so-called 'lead nation', which would take the lead on contracting with companies on behalf of a coalition of member states.
