European Defence fund opportunities
The European Defence Fund (EDF) was established by Regulation 2021/697 adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on the 29 April 2021. With total funding of EUR 7.953 billion, facility supporting collaborative defence initiatives will operate for the period from 2021 to 2027.
EDF is implemented through annual work programmes (WP) that are developed and approved to give EU member state companies an opportunity to submit their cross-border industrial cooperation project proposals to the European Commission for evaluation. Each year member states also approve the indicative Multiannual Perspective, which sets out the potential medium-term project themes.
In general, the objectives of EDF are based on those of European Defence Industry Development Programme (EDIDP) and Preparatory Action for Defence Research (PADR) - to foster the competitiveness and innovativeness of the European defence technological and industrial base thereby contributing to the EU's strategic autonomy. Funding allocated to projects for development of innovative defence technologies is expected to lead to new cross-border industrial partnerships and closer involvement of researchers in defence sector developments.
Ministry of Defence (MoD), which formulates Latvia’s national position, believes that Latvia could be successful in supporting small and medium size enterprises through EDF to enable them to become innovation drivers that ensure competitive balance on the EU single market while also integrating SMEs in supply chains supported by cross-border partnerships to gain access to wider opportunities for development of new European defence industry products.
Funding will be available for development of new innovative products and technologies, as well as upgrading the existing products and technologies. EDF will specifically target disruptive innovations and up to 8% of available funding will be invested in ground-breaking technologies and innovative instruments.
According to EDF Regulation, research projects will receive 100% of necessary funding from EDF’s budget, whereas activities such as testing, qualification and certification conducted in scope of development projects will receive less funding compared to EDIDP or 80% of eligible costs.
Latest information about EDF 2023 Work Programme:
European Commission (EC) has adopted and released the EDF 2023 Work Programme (WP2023). There will be 34 calls for proposals under the WP2023, addressing current research and development topics. EC deadline for submission of project proposals is 22 November 2023.
Full information about WP2023 available here.
MoD Logistics and Defence Investments Policy Department presentation on latest in EDF funding, with an overview of EDF WP2023 priority project topics and functional areas identified by MoD, is provided in section ‘Related documents’.
Additional information:
- General information about EDF WP2023 and detailed descriptions of project themes released by EC
- EDF Indicative Multiannual Perspective summary released by EC (document that indicatively outlines potential medium-term cooperation areas. EDF Multiannual Perspective is reviewed and updated on annual basis).
Calls for proposals are announced on EC web-page in section ‘Funding & Tenders portal”, which you can find here.
EC Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) will host the annual EDF Information Days for European Union member state defence industry players on 28-29 June. For more details on the Info Days and participant registration, please click here.
Latvian defence industry players and research institutions are welcome to take part in Info Days to access more information about how to become a partner in EDF project and benefit from networking opportunities provided by the EC.
Contact details:
To learn more about the EDF or enquire about eligibility of specific defence industry products with EDF funding criteria, please contact Logistics and Defence Investments Policy Department at the Ministry of Defence via e-mail: edf@mod.gov.lv
To access more information about national EDF focal points in the EU, click here.