The European Defence Fund (EDF) is the European Commission’s initiative to support collaborative defence research and development, and to foster an innovative and competitive defence industrial base. It promotes defence cooperation among companies, research actors and between the Member States to foster innovation and develop state-of-the-art defence technology.

Under the next Multiannual Financial Framework of the Union (2021-2027), the Fund will support competitive and collaborative defence projects throughout the entire cycle of research and development, focusing on projects that have the potential to be game-changers for the armed forces of Member States. The Fund will foster innovation and incentivise the cross-border participation of SMEs. Projects will be defined based on defence capability priorities agreed by Member States within the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy and particularly in the context of the Capability Development Plan. The projects will aim at contributing to the security and defence interests of the Union.

A budget of close to €8 billion for 2021-2027 is dedicated to the European Defence Fund. €2.7 billion to fund collaborative defence research and €5.3 billion euros to fund collaborative capability development projects complementing national contributions.

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