The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, is looking for ways for member states to commit to funding the arms shipment to Ukraine after the European Peace Facility, the key instrument for supplying arms to Kiev, is at rock bottom after 85% of funds have been exhausted.
«The Mechanism is a victim of its own success,» said a senior European official, who explained that the head of EU diplomacy will raise with EU defense ministers at their meeting this Tuesday in Brussels the need to guarantee funds for an instrument that has been used for the first time to supply arms to a country at war.
Borrell is concerned about the sustainability of the fund, an extra-budgetary instrument that depends on contributions from member states, which contribute according to their percentage of the EU’s gross domestic product.
Between the aid provided to Kiev and upcoming commitments, the senior official has detailed that 85% of the fund has already been exhausted, leaving less than 1 billion, or 15% of the envelope. In addition to providing military equipment to Kiev, the Mechanism is intended to support the work of armies of third countries and to finance armed forces collaborating with the EU.
Brussels recognizes that the debate is complex and technical details need to be discussed among the EU-27, although the aspiration of the High Representative is to close before the end of the year an agreement to replenish the fund. The idea of the EU diplomacy is that the leaders of the European Union discuss it at the December summit and commit themselves in writing with a proposal to provide new funds.
Created in 2021, the European Peace Facility is an extra-budgetary fund with an initial envelope of 5 billion euros until 2027. It is the instrument to cover external actions with military or defense implications, within the framework of the EU’s common foreign and security policy.
