"Two years ago, Russia's unjustified, on-going war of aggression against Ukraine marked the return of high-intensity conflict on our continent," the European Commission said in a statement.
"The European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) sets a clear, long-term vision to achieve defence industrial readiness in the European Union," it added. "As a first immediate and central means to deliver the Strategy, the European Commission today tables a legislative proposal for a European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) and a framework of measures to ensure the timely availability and supply of defence products."
The new defence industry programme would be financed from the EU's budget for the period from 2025 to 2027, the EU executive said.
Under the initiative, the EU's 27 members states would aim to "procure at least 40 percent of defence equipment in a collaborative manner by 2030," according to the European Commission.
They would also seek to "ensure that, by 2030, the value of intra-EU defence trade represents at least 35 percent of the value of the EU defence market."
"To increase European defence industrial readiness, member states need to invest more, better, together, and European," the EU Commission said in its statement.
"The EU has proven that it will support Ukraine for as long as it takes," the EU executive said in a post on the X social media platform. "Our action is pivotal to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s aggression and to reinforce the EU's position as a strong and reliable security provider."
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
Tuesday is day 741 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, ec.europa.eu