BRUSSELS, 6th November, 2025 (WAM) -- The European Council and the European Parliament negotiators reached a provisional agreement on measures to incentivise defence-related investments in the current EU budget to implement the so-called ReArm Europe plan, an EU initiative to increase defence spending and strengthen the EU's military capabilities.
The agreement includes a landmark decision to associate Ukraine to the European Defence Fund, underscoring the EU's enduring commitment to Ukraine's security, resilience, and gradual integration into the European defence industrial base.
''The agreement reached today on incentivising defence-related investments in the current EU budget is an important milestone in implementing the ReArm Europe plan and in the EU's progress towards increasing our defence readiness by 2030. We need to maximise our investments in defence and dual-use technologies to prepare for the future - together in Europe and with Ukraine," Troels Lund Poulsen, Minister for Defence of Denmark, said.
The provisional agreement reached today broadly maintains the general thrust of the Commission proposal, which aims to facilitate faster, more flexible and coordinated investments in the European defence technological and industrial base (EDTIB) by amending five EU regulations:
the Digital Europe Programme
the European Defence Fund
the Connecting Europe Facility
the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and
Horizon Europe
The agreement reached today will have to be confirmed by both institutions before being formally adopted.
