Brussels, 5 February 2023
On Monday, the Industry Committee and the Security and Defence Subcommittee will debate the proposal for a European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA).
When: Monday 6 February – 16.30 -17.30
Where: European Parliament in Brussels, SPINELLI building, Room 3G-2, and on live webstreaming.
Members of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee and of the Security and Defence Subcommittee will hold a first debate on the proposal for a regulation establishing European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA).
The proposal follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has reshaped the geopolitical environment in Europe and intensified discussions across the EU on defence investments and capabilities.
The aim is to combine EU member states’ demand in common defence procurement to improve EU defence industrial policy and benefit both customers and suppliers. At a first stage, EDIRPA should address the most urgent critical needs for defence products.
Background
On 19 July 2022, the Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation on establishing the European defence industry reinforcement through common procurement act (EDIRPA).
EDIRPA is a short-term joint defence procurement instrument worth €500 million. It seeks to address the most urgent and critical defence capability gaps and aims to incentivise member states to procure defence products jointly. The decision on what will be procured is left up to the member states. On 1 December 2022, the Council adopted its general approach.
Following the mandate received at the Versailles Summit in March 2022, the Commission presented a defence investment gap analysis in May 2022, proposing the EDIRPA as one of the instruments to address defence-related investment, capability and industrial gaps.
Next steps
The co-rapporteurs for the legislative proposal on the EDIRPA are Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, PL), for ITRE, and Michael Gahler (EPP, DE) for SEDE.
MEPs will vote on the draft report in a joint committee meeting at the end of April. The draft report could be submitted to the plenary in June.