The European Defence Fund represents the culmination of the European Commission’s progressive emergence as a defence actor.
The origins of the European Defence Fund were marked by the Commission’s strong political commitment and activism. Because it has no legal competence in the area of defence, the Commission used its existing economic competences, which has led to a tension between economic and strategic interests in the negotiation.
In order to be able to manage the European Defence Fund, the Commission will have to strengthen its technical expertise in the area of defence, which will likely lead to bureaucratic rivalry between the Commission and the European Defence Agency and the European External Action Service.
More generally, the European Defence Fund is part of a new and broader focus on budgetary instruments in European Union defence policy, aimed at strengthening cooperation among member states.
This note relies on 23 interviews with officials from the Commission, the European Defence Agency (EDA), member states’ national administrations, and the defence industry as well as members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
