The European Commission has prepared a plan for ensuring Ukraine and the EU ammunition

Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces

The European Commission has prepared a plan that should ensure the supply of ammunition to Ukrainian troops to confront Russian invasion and replenish the reserves of the EU member states.

They are going to submit the plan to submit the European Union on Thursday, March 2, Spiegel writes with reference to the relevant document, which was at the disposal of the editorial office.

The plan consists of three steps. The first implies an immediate increase in ammunition supplies, including 155-mm artillery shells to Ukraine. For this, the European Union intends to allocate a billion euros.

The second step involves the joint purchase of a 155-mm ammunition by the EDA European defense agency in order to replenish the reserves of the EU countries and ensure the supply of Ukraine in the long run.

The third step is designed to ensure a long -term increase in European capacities for the production of ammunition, taking into account the changed safety situation.

Extraordinary assistance provided by the first component of the plan should follow the already established scheme: EU countries supply Ukraine and receive money from the European Fund of the World (EPF) in return. Soon, the Supreme EU representative for foreign affairs and security policy Josep Borrel wants to offer to allocate an additional billion euros for ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

To implement joint purchases in the document, it is proposed to collect together the needs of member countries and Ukraine in order to "place a large order and give industry a clear signal of demand." The EC believes that companies will be ready to increase their capacities for a long time if they see the presence of appropriate demand.

European Commissioners also hope that general orders will significantly reduce prices. The project has already been interested in 25 of the EU 27 countries, as well as Norway. The initiative can last seven years.

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The third component should solve the main problem: a rapid reduction in ammunition reserves in the EU countries and insufficient capacities for their production, which should now be quickly increased.

The European Commission sees itself more as an intermediary and organizer, for example, identifying gaps in production facilities and helping with purchases. Real responsibility for production is assigned to industry and government of the EU countries.

It is expected that the EU defense ministers will discuss proposals at an informal meeting in Stockholm at the beginning of next week. Decisions can be made already at the next summit of the heads of state and governments at the end of March.