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Stricter reimbursement rules and veto avoidance measures for joint procurement of European defense equipment will result in faster and longer deliveries to Ukraine, according to an internal memo seen by Euractic.
The draft is a follow-up to an earlier non-document on reforming EU arms funds for Ukraine, which Euractic reported last week.
The matter will be discussed by the bloc’s ambassadors on Wednesday (January 31).
“Military assistance to Ukraine at EU level under the European Peace Facility will continue to be driven by the evolving needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the EU Foreign Affairs Service (EEAS) said in an internal memo circulated among member states on Friday. Stated. (January 26).
EU leaders are expected to formally sign the agreement on Thursday (February 1) when they hold an extraordinary summit on support for Ukraine.
“We will seek to maximize the EU’s added value in complementing bilateral efforts and providing more and better operational support to Ukraine,” the memo said.
The document follows Germany’s request for additional information from EU diplomatic bodies after last week’s meeting of EU foreign ministers on the Future Ukraine Assistance Fund (UAF), a special fund of the European Peace Organization (EPF). .
However, the three-page addendum rejects the Berlin government’s request that the amount of state direct contributions to Ukraine be deducted from contributions to the fund, even though the first draft contained a similar idea. It seems like it is.
According to the proposed plan, the new UAF will finance the joint procurement of European defense equipment, requested by France, as well as the “train and equip” program of the Ukrainian military under the EU Training Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM). It turns out.
The move comes after the EU’s foreign affairs ministry last year proposed adding 20 billion euros to the European Peace Facility (EPF), but Germany and France first decided to move on from incentives without changing how they are used. , was reluctant to give the green light to the EPF. From an approach based on depleting national stocks to a procurement-based approach.
The internal memo also pushes for an agreement for an additional 5 billion euros to the fund in 2024 to fund Kyiv’s needs, an initial increase from the originally proposed 20 billion euros. Ayumu becomes.
Reduced veto power
To avoid a veto, the EEAS is proposing new rules that would require “member states that abstain to instead make corresponding financial contributions to other support measures to support other partners.”
This would require Hungary to refuse green light funds for Ukraine-related aid and instead transfer contributions to other countries receiving aid under the EPF.
The plan is already in place for neutral countries that do not finance lethal aid to Ukraine.
“The current rules providing for abstention from support measures providing lethal support should also be extended to support measures providing non-lethal support to Ukraine,” the document states.
Under this proposal, the UAF will also work on new and stricter fixed reimbursement rules to avoid EU countries having to devise new ways to calculate the price of each donated equipment and be criticized in negotiations. become.
“Governance arrangements will be improved through agreements on fixed reimbursement rates and the use of stock value as the only valuation method,” the EU note said.
This system will allow EU member states to pay into the Fund only amounts that have not been received as reimbursements, in order to facilitate accounting.
EU member states are[e] “Take advantage of the possibility of offsetting the reimbursement amount received from the facility in a particular year against the financial contribution payable,” the text reads.
Therefore, without specifying whether it is an EPF or UAF, the overall budget of the “facility” is not affected.
“Offsets applied to one Member State will not affect the liquidity of other Member States’ contributions or facilities,” the text reads.
Flexible European joint procurement
The internal memo also builds on the idea of an ammunition program to supply Ukraine with 1 million rounds of ammunition.
“The provision of military assistance to meet Ukraine’s needs will be clarified through a more structured, efficient and pragmatic approach, gradually moving from destocking to joint procurement from the European defense industry (and Norway). will continue,” the paper said.
Norway, which was not mentioned in the previous proposal, would also be considered “European” for the ammunition initiative.
Despite “the EU and Norway prioritizing joint procurement,” it is also essential to “consider supply chain flexibility where appropriate,” the paper said.
Also,”[e] “Leveraging both the Lead Nation Approach and the European Defense Agency (EDA), taking advantage of well-functioning national procurement structures and existing framework agreements.”
[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Alice Taylor]
Read more at Euractiv
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