Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Negotiators from the Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on measures to stimulate defense-related investments in the current EU budget, with the aim of implementing the so-called "Rearmament Europe" plan, a European initiative to increase defense spending and strengthen its military capabilities. According to a European statement issued by the institutions of the European Union in Brussels, "The agreement includes a historic decision to link Ukraine to the European Defence Fund, confirming the EU's unwavering commitment to Ukraine's security, resilience, and gradual integration into the European defence industrial base.

"The agreement reached today on boosting defence-related investments in the current EU budget represents a significant milestone in the implementation of the 'Rearmament Europe' plan and in the EU's progress towards increasing our defence readiness by 2030. We need to maximize our investments in defence and dual-use technologies to prepare for the future – together in Europe and with Ukraine." The statement quoted Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and Danish Minister for European Affairs Marie Pierre-Pierre, as saying, "Today's agreement sends a strong message: Europe is determined to invest in its security and remove all obstacles in this direction. By opening up the EU's key programs to defence-related investments, we are strengthening our efforts to build a robust European defence industrial and technological base." This is a necessary step towards a stronger, more resilient, and more capable Europe by 2030. The provisional agreement reached today generally maintains the overall direction of the Commission’s proposal, which aims to facilitate faster, more flexible, and coordinated investments in the European Defence Technology and Industrial Base (EDTIB) by amending five EU regulations:

Digital Europe Programme
European Defence Fund
Connecting Europe Facility
Strategic Technologies Platform for Europe (STEP)
Horizon Europe
According to the European statement we received, the participating legislators agreed to extend EU financial support under Horizon Europe to include dual-use and defense-related companies, while largely maintaining the eligibility rules already in place in EU instruments such as SAFE (European Security Action Tool) and EDIP (European Defence Programme).

Furthermore, the participating legislators agreed to link Ukraine to the European Defence Fund, opening up new opportunities for Ukrainian entities to participate in EU cooperative defence research and development activities in the future.

Regarding the next steps, the European statement said, “The two institutions must confirm the agreement reached today before it is formally adopted.” The European statement, distributed in Brussels, explained that the so-called "Comprehensive Mini Defence Package" is a set of legal amendments proposed by the European Commission in April 2025 to facilitate the use of existing EU funds—normally earmarked for regional development, innovation, and industrial support, etc.—to strengthen the EU's defence industry. This initiative complements the so-called "Comprehensive Defence Readiness Package" presented by the Commission in June 2025, which is currently under consideration by the Council. Both proposals aim to stimulate defence-related investments and enhance Europe's defence readiness, as requested by the European Council in March 2025.