EU Commission increases pressure on European armaments companies

Shells at an exercise in Britain

Ukraine urgently needs 155mm ammunition for western weapons such as howitzers to be able to defend itself against the Russian attack.

(Photo: AP)

Brussels The EU Commission wants to ensure the supply of ammunition to Ukraine in the long term. Within twelve months, European armaments companies are to produce at least one million rounds of artillery ammunition per year. The Commission is making EUR 500 million available from its budget for this purpose. The same sum is to come from the member states, so that a total of one billion euros in subsidies is available.

Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton was combative on Wednesday. “We have to switch to war economy mode,” he said at the presentation of the “Act in Support of Ammunition Production” (ASAP) in Brussels. “We can do this and we will do this.”

The Frenchman had visited ammunition factories across Europe in the past few weeks. His conclusion: “We have real production capacities in Europe.” Especially in Eastern Europe there are still many factories that have significantly reduced their operations since the end of the Cold War, but are still operational. “The factories are there, we just need to ramp up production,” Breton said. If necessary, you can also produce well over a million projectiles a year.

The Ukrainian military has been complaining about a lack of ammunition for a long time. This makes the planned summer offensive against the invaders more difficult. According to EU estimates, the Russian attackers fire up to 50,000 grenades a day, while the Ukrainians have to make do with a few thousand.

Breton said no one expected a war of such intensity. Therefore, production must now be ramped up quickly. He gave no details as to what ammunition was to be manufactured by what date. Among other things, the Ukrainian army needs 155mm shells for its Western weapons and 152mm shells for old Soviet systems.

The EU could force arms companies

In the event that the subsidies do not trigger the desired boost in production, the Commission also wants to resort to coercion: Brussels could then, together with a member state, instruct an armaments company to sell ammunition primarily to EU countries and to postpone other orders. Given the emergency in Ukraine, certain export orders should not be given priority, Breton said.

The EU’s 500 million euros are to flow from two pots: the European Defense Fund EDF and a pot for the joint procurement of armaments (EDIRPA). National governments must mobilize another 500 million for co-financing.

>> Read here: This is how Ukraine is planning its summer offensive.

To this end, they are also allowed to reallocate funds that they receive from the cohesion fund for the harmonization of living conditions in the EU and the Corona reconstruction fund. The latter is actually intended for the green and digital transformation. But Breton said that one of the goals of the Corona Fund was to strengthen the resilience of the countries. That includes defence.

In addition to expanding domestic production, the EU also wants to jointly procure ammunition on the world market in the future. However, the joint procurement plan is not progressing because France does not want to buy from third countries. According to Breton, another billion euros from the European Peace Facility, a pot outside the EU budget, would be available for joint purchases.

Not only the EU is struggling with bottlenecks. Even the USA cannot keep up with the production of their howitzer shells – and are now modernizing their factories. The government is investing 1.4 billion euros to increase production of the 155mm shells from 14,000 per month before the war to more than 85,000 per month in 2028.

More: EU Column – Europe’s support for Ukraine is flagging

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