The European Defence Fund
Following the pilot programs European Defense Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) and Prepatory Action for Defence and Research (PADR) The EDF aims to foster an innovative and competitive defence industrial base band contributed to EU’s strategic autonomy. With a budget of €8 billion for the period of 2021-2027 defence research and development calls will be funded in all operational and technological domains (land, sea, air, space, cyber, information, energy, materials, CBRN, etc.) implemented through annual work programs.
The EDF Calls of 2021 had a budget of 1.2 billion euro’s, 845 million for collaborative development projects complementing national contributions and 322 million for collaborative defence research to address emerging/future challenge and threats. 142 proposals were received of which 61 defence R&D projects were selected. The 2021 call saw a strong involvement of SMEs and wide geographic coverage. There was a strong signal of cross-border cooperation; on average each proposal saw 18 entities from 8 difference MS patriciate.
The EDF Calls of 2022 had a budget of 920 million euros, of which 514 million for development and 317 million for research. The European defence industry submitted 134 proposals for joint defence R&D projects. 41 collaborative projects have been funded with almost 832 million of EU funding.
In 2023 a record high number of proposals were submitted. 236 proposals will compete for a funding of 1.2 billion, for 33 thematic topics. The evaluation of the topics will occur this year.
The EDF in the Netherlands
The Netherlands Defence Technological and Industrial Base (NLDTIB) currently concerns around 1,000 companies with 5 billion euro turnover evenly distributed across all domains. The NLDTIB is highly specialized, 88% of the industry consists of SMEs. It is also innovative as 14% turnover is devoted to R&D. 20% of employees work on R&D. The Netherlands industry is export-oriented, 52% of turnover is derived from organizations’ exports.
The Netherlands performed well in the results of EDF 2021. It is ranked 6th below FR, IT, ES, DE, GR. In this way, it outperformed goals set out in the Defence Industry Strategy (DIS) to rank at least 10th. In 2022 the Netherlands again performed well
The EDF Call of 2024 Work Program is expected to be released at the end of Q1 2024.
For more information on the EDF, see the EC website: https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-defence-industry/european-defence-fund-edf_en
