ATHENS 

The EU announced on Thursday night that it had approved funding for joint defense procurement for the first time.

“The (EU) Commission has approved funding for five cross-border projects to support more coordinated and efficient defence procurement among EU Member States. Implemented under the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement instrument (EDIRPA), each of the 5 selected projects will receive €60 million ($63.34 million), representing a total amount of €300 million funding,” it said in a statement.

The move is meant to enable improved interoperability between the member states’ armed forces and support European defense industry through larger contracts, according to the commission.

“All in all, the common procurement will reinforce defence readiness in the EU Member States,” it said.

Under the move, two projects for procurement of air and missile defense systems, two projects for procurement of artillery ammunition, and one project for procurement of modern armored vehicles will be provided with funding support.