The European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) is a short-duration EU regulation adopted on 18 October 2023 as Regulation (EU) 2023/2418 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Its legal basis is Article 173(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which empowers the Union to support the competitiveness of European industry, supplemented by Article 322(1)(a) on financial rules. EDIRPA was proposed by the European Commission on 19 July 2022 as one pillar of a three-track response to the depletion of member-state stockpiles caused by donations to Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion of 24 February 2022. The instrument is endowed with €300 million from the Union budget over the period 2023–2025 and is administered by the Commission's Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), established in 2020 under Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The procedural mechanics rest on the formation of a consortium of at least three member states (or member states plus Schengen-associated countries Norway and Liechtenstein) that agree to procure a defence product jointly. One participating state acts as procurement agent on behalf of the group, or the consortium may designate the European Defence Agency (EDA), OCCAR, or another international organisation to conduct the contracting. The consortium submits an application to the Commission identifying the capability gap addressed, the products to be purchased, the suppliers, and the cost share. The Commission evaluates proposals against award criteria set out in Article 9 of the regulation, including contribution to interoperability, urgency, and reinforcement of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Co-financing from the EU budget is capped at 15 percent of the estimated procurement value, with a ceiling of €60 million per action.
Eligibility rules constrain where the procured equipment may originate. Under Article 8, contractors and subcontractors involved in the joint procurement must be established in the Union or in an associated country, and their executive management structures must be located there. Components sourced from non-associated third countries are permitted only up to a defined cost threshold, and the supplier must not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or entity that would compromise EU security interests. This "buy European" conditionality was the most contested element during negotiations, with France pressing for stricter origin rules and the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Baltic states arguing for flexibility to procure American or South Korean systems already in member-state inventories.
The first EDIRPA work programme was adopted in March 2024, and the inaugural call for proposals closed in July 2024. On 4 December 2024 the Commission announced the selection of five joint procurement projects covering air defence systems, 155 mm artillery ammunition, soldier systems, armoured vehicles, and counter-unmanned aerial systems, with consortia led variously by France, Germany, Estonia, and other capitals. Notable participants include the Mistral air-defence consortium and ammunition procurement aligned with the parallel Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), Regulation (EU) 2023/1525. Disbursements began in early 2025, channelled through grant agreements concluded between the Commission and the lead procuring member state.
EDIRPA must be distinguished from several adjacent instruments. The European Defence Fund (EDF), established by Regulation (EU) 2021/697 with an €8 billion envelope for 2021–2027, finances collaborative research and development of new defence capabilities, whereas EDIRPA finances acquisition of existing, off-the-shelf products. ASAP subsidises industrial capacity expansion on the supply side — ammunition production lines — while EDIRPA stimulates demand-side aggregation. The European Peace Facility (EPF), an off-budget instrument under the Common Foreign and Security Policy, reimburses member states for lethal aid donated to Ukraine but does not itself procure equipment. EDIRPA also differs from procurement conducted directly by the EDA under Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1835, which lacks dedicated EU budget co-financing.
EDIRPA is a sunset instrument that expires on 31 December 2025, and the political debate has shifted to its successor. The Commission proposed the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) on 5 March 2024, together with the first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS), which together envisage a sustained framework worth €1.5 billion for 2025–2027 and beyond, structurally embedding joint procurement, security of supply mechanisms, and a Structure for European Armament Programme (SEAP) legal form. Negotiations on EDIP between the Council and Parliament continued through 2024 and 2025, complicated by disagreements over the third-country participation regime, the inclusion of Ukraine's defence industry, and financing sources following the ReArm Europe / Readiness 2030 plan announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in March 2025. Critics, including the European Court of Auditors in its 2024 opinion, have questioned whether the modest €300 million envelope can meaningfully reshape fragmented procurement patterns that historically see fewer than 18 percent of member-state defence acquisitions conducted cooperatively.
For working practitioners — desk officers in ministries of defence, procurement officials, and industry government-relations staff — EDIRPA marks the first time EU budget funds have directly co-financed the acquisition of finished defence equipment, breaching a longstanding taboo rooted in Article 41(2) of the Treaty on European Union, which prohibits CFSP operational expenditure with military implications from being charged to the Union budget. The Commission circumvented this by anchoring the regulation in industrial policy rather than CFSP. Understanding EDIRPA's eligibility rules, consortium-formation logic, and relationship to EDIP is now essential for any official engaged in European capability planning, transatlantic defence trade, or NATO–EU complementarity dossiers.
Example
In December 2024, the European Commission selected a consortium led by France, Estonia, and Hungary for EDIRPA co-financing of joint 155 mm artillery ammunition procurement to replenish stocks depleted by donations to Ukraine.