The European Parliament (EP) today approved the launch of negotiations with the Danish presidency of the Council of the EU on the "ReArm Europe/Readiness 2030" plan, which should strengthen European defense capabilities with new financial resources of up to 800 billion euros, BTA reports.
Earlier today, the Council of the EU adopted a position on "ReArm Europe/Readiness 2030", which opens the possibility of starting negotiations with the EP on the EU rearmament plan.
Funding for investments related to European defense will be increased by amending the existing EU programmes - Strategic Technology Platform for Europe (STEP), Horizon Europe, the European Defence Fund, the Digital Europe programme and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Defence and security technologies are set to be added as a fourth strategic sector under the Strategic Technology Platform for Europe.
The ReArm Europe/Readiness 2030 plan, presented by the European Commission in March, allows for over €800 billion in public defence funding at national level, the EU's European Defence Industrial Facility (SAFE) as well as leveraging the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and mobilising private capital.
The plan also relies on the EIB Group to broaden its lending to include defence and security.