The European Defence Industrial Strategy and Its Implementing Regulation Viewed Through Procurement Law Spectacles

On 11 March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Council met in Versailles. In the resulting declaration it was decided to invest more and better in defence capabilities and innovative technologies.1 The Strategic Compass for Defence and Security was adopted on 21 March 2022, to concretise the needed action. It has four goals: act, invest, secure and partner. On 18 May 2022, a Defence Investment Gap Analysis that had been requested at the meeting in Versailles was presented. It examined defence expenditures within the EU and identified capability and industrial gaps that need to be addressed and suggested how that might be done. Since then, numerous initiatives have been adopted to meet the goals and close the gaps focussing on the most urgent needs. The new European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) was adopted on 5 March 2024, and feeds into the "invest" goal in the Strategic Compass, addresses the identified gaps and sets out the vision for the EU defence industry policy until 2035, which is to ensure the defence readiness of the Union by strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB).
The strategy comprises five main focus areas: 1) enhancement and support for the Member States’ efforts to invest more, better, together, and European; 2) a more efficient and responsive EDTIB, which should achieve increased availability of defence products and systems, as well as security of supply; 3) financial means to underpin EU defence industrial readiness; 4) mainstreaming of a defence-readiness culture, including across all EU policies; and 5) leveraging of partnerships to enhance readiness and resilience.