After months of negotiations, a decision has now been made: the EU aid fund will be increased so that five billion euros will be released for Ukraine. The package is intended to guarantee the supply of weapons, ammunition and other goods.
The amount that the EU countries have now agreed on comes from the EU aid fund, according to information from the Belgian Council Presidency. In concrete terms, members agreed on Wednesday to provide the European Peace Facility (EFF) with additional resources.
This financing instrument allows EU Member States to reimburse military support expenditure to Ukraine and pay for joint orders.
The negotiations were complicated by France’s insistence that only weapons and ammunition produced in Europe would be financed with EU funds. The government in Paris argued that the EU defense industry needed strong orders to permanently expand its production and survive against international competition. However, opponents of the regulation argued that the first thing to do was to quickly support Ukraine.
Priority for European industry
Ultimately, there will be a compromise: the European defense industry must be given priority. If Ukrainian demand cannot be met quickly enough, non-European companies can also receive orders with EU money.
Berlin also had the design rewritten. The German federal government only gave the necessary approval after it was agreed that bilateral aid to Ukraine would be taken into account in future payments to the peace facility. Berlin had previously argued that bilateral aid could often be delivered more quickly and efficiently.
Blocker Hungary is therefore bypassed
Germany also pointed out that Hungary has been blocking planned disbursements from the remaining Peace Facility funds for months and could theoretically continue to do so in the future, as the country needs the agreement of all member states for any disbursement decision.
At the same time, the new rules are intended to ensure fairer aid delivery to Ukraine. This is relevant for Berlin because it has promised military aid worth more than seven billion euros to Ukraine this year alone, and at the same time, Germany, as the largest economy, typically finances around a quarter of the EU’s combined spending. The new rules should now allow bilateral aid to count towards around half of the EU’s financing contribution.
The Council still has to agree
The pressure on the negotiations had recently arisen mainly from the tense situation at the front and the unresolved domestic political dispute over new aid to Ukraine in the US. Ukraine’s armed forces say they urgently need further supplies of weapons and ammunition to hold out against attackers from Russia. The agreement reached on Wednesday must now be reaffirmed by the Council of the Member States. However, this is considered a formality.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
