Ukraine's ammunition stocks are shrinking rapidly, and the EU member states' armouries are also being emptied. In order to boost delivery and new production, Brussels wants to bear up to 90 percent of the costs.
Countries like Germany could get significantly more EU money in the future if they quickly deliver urgently needed ammunition to Ukraine. In a discussion paper, the EU Commission proposes that member states reimburse up to 90 percent of the costs from EU funds in the event of prompt deliveries. So far, the reimbursement rate for such applications has usually been significantly lower. According to the paper, states are required to make 155 millimeter caliber artillery ammunition available quickly.
The money for the refund should therefore come from the so-called European Peace Facility. It is a financing instrument through which the EU already supplies arms and equipment and supports the training of the Ukrainian armed forces. So far, 3.6 billion euros have been released. According to the document, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wants to propose the release of another billion euros for ammunition deliveries.
Borrell had already written to the defense ministers of the EU states last week to expand ammunition deliveries. The background was concerns that Ukraine could soon lack urgently needed types of ammunition.
According to a background paper from Estonia, Russia fires an average of 20,000 to 60,000 rounds of artillery ammunition per day, while Ukraine only fires 2,000 to 7,000 rounds per day. In order to promote the rapid procurement of ammunition in the EU and to boost production, the EU Commission believes that ammunition should be bought jointly in future. According to the information, 25 of the 27 member states and Norway have already expressed interest in a project by the European Defense Agency (EDA). In addition, measures are proposed to expand the production capacities of the armaments industry in the long term.
