ASD welcomes EU statement on investment in the defence industry

Today, at the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency (EDA), EU Defence Ministers endorsed a Joint Statement on strengthening the EU’s Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB)’s access to finance and its ability to contribute to peace, stability, and sustainability in Europe. Among others, ministers called for ensuring that EU level policies facilitate access to finance for the defence industry, for public and private finance institutions to avoid discriminating against investments in the EDTIB, and for the European Investment Bank to enhance its support for EU defence and security objectives overall.

The joint statement comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which has dramatically changed the security environment in Europe and underscored the essential role of credibly equipped armed forces in safeguarding security, freedom and democracy. Despite these circumstances, many financial actors have remained reluctant to invest in or provide financial services to European defence companies.

Jan Pie, Secretary General of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), commented as follows:      

“We welcome the joint statement of EU defence ministers as a strong political signal. Difficulties to access finance is a major hurdle for European defence industry to meet European armed forces’ needs in the new security environment. These difficulties must be overcome to ensure the ability of EU Member States to protect their citizens and help the Union to become a more credible security provider. We therefore hope that policy makers in the EU, in particular finance ministers, as well as financial market operators will hear the signal from defence ministers and act accordingly.”