European Commission adopts Act in Support of Ammunition Production

The European Commission has adopted the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), in compliance with the decision of the European Council to increase the capabilities of the European defense industry, including for the urgent supply of ammunition to Ukraine to ensure its right to self-defense.

That's according to the website of the European Commission, Ukrinform reports.

"Today [May 3], the Commission has adopted the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) as a response to track 3 of the plan agreed by the Council on 20 March, to urgently deliver ammunition and missiles to Ukraine and to help Member States refill their stocks," the statement reads.

It says that by introducing targeted measures including financing, the Act aims at ramping up the EU's production capacity and addressing the current shortage of ammunition and missiles as well as their components. It will support the destocking from Member States (track 1) and the joint procurement for ammunition (track 2).

According to the statement, it will strengthen the responsiveness and ability of the Union defense industry to ensure the timely supply of ammunition and missiles in Europe. "In light of the return of high intensity conflict in Europe, the timely availability in sufficient volumes of these products is critical for our security and for our continuous efforts to support Ukraine," the European Commission said.

This proposal for a new Regulation comprises an instrument to financially support the reinforcement of the Union's industrial production capacities for the relevant defense products; a mechanism to map, monitor and better anticipate the existence of bottlenecks in these supply chains; the introduction of a temporary regulatory framework to address the ammunition supply shortage.

The Commission proposes to allocate a budget of EUR 500 million in current prices. This budget comes from the redeployment of different instruments, in particular the European Defense Fund and the future European Defense Industrial Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA).

"Ukraine is heroically resisting the brutal Russian invader. We stand by our promise to support Ukraine and its people, for as long as it takes. But Ukraine's brave soldiers need sufficient military equipment to defend their country. Europe is stepping up its support on three tracks. First, Member States are delivering additional ammunition from their existing stocks, with new European Peace Facility support of 1 billion euros. Second, together with Member States, we will procure jointly more ammunition for Ukraine - and we are making available an additional billion euro for that. And today, we are delivering on the third track. Ramping up and speeding up the defense industrial production of ammunition in Europe," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.