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Member nations of the European Union (EU) Council have agreed to raise the funding ceiling of the European Peace Facility (EPF) by €2bn in 2023.
The announcement comes after all the member nations of the council reached a political agreement during a meeting in Brussels on 12 December.
With the increased funding ceiling in 2023, the council aims to ensure that EPF’s financial sustainability is maintained over the coming years. The bloc may also provide a further boost to this ceiling value in later stages.
The EU Council’s overall financial ceiling until 2027 is now expected to go up to €5.5bn.
Following this announcement, the EU high representative will submit this proposal to the Council Decision common foreign and security policy (CFSP) 2021/509 for final amendment.
The agreement will then be formalised by early next year.
EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy high representative Josep Borrell said: “Today’s decision will ensure that we have the funding to continue delivering concrete military support to our partners’ armed forces.
“In less than two years, the EPF has proven its worth. It has completely changed the way we support our partners in defence. It makes the EU and its partners stronger.”
Established in March last year, the EPF was formed to fulfil the military and defence requirements of non-EU countries and regional and international organisations.
The EPF has also been providing military aid to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their battle against the Russian invasion.
The EU has provided six successive military assistance packages to Ukraine, and support packages for other countries, including Bosnia, Moldova, Mozambique, Niger, and Mali, among others.
The sixth support package for Ukraine, worth €500m, was announced by the EU Council earlier in October.
