EU agrees on 22 defence capability development priorities

The European Defence Agency (EDA) has outlined 22 priorities for the development of European defence capabilities in light of the experience gained during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, citing an announcement by the EDA

Details: The EDA emphasises that the priorities reflect the military realities observed in Ukraine, contribute to EU defence objectives, and are designed to "lead to the implementation of concrete projects", following continual underfunding and insufficient European cooperation in the field of defence.

The 22 EU defence policy priorities comprise 14 priorities in five military areas and 8 priorities related to strategic enablers and multipliers.

They include a call for mobile and technologically compatible ground forces, the need for integrated air and missile defence, the modernisation and development of battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers, as well as means of countering drones.

The EDA emphasises separately that the full-scale war against Ukraine underscores the urgent need to improve the military mobility of forces in the EU and beyond, and to put an end to the lack of military intelligence, including the use of drones.

The priorities also involve strengthening interoperability and improving joint response between civilian and military services in the context of preventing attacks on underwater infrastructure.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba earlier reported that the European Union will not be able to carry out its plan to supply one million rounds of artillery to Ukraine by March 2024 due to the state of defence production and bureaucratic obstacles.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said at a meeting with the defence ministers of the member states that they will examine the situation surrounding ammunition production to support Ukraine and find ways of increasing supplies.

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