European Peace Facility – support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces

KEY POINTS

Background

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been engaged in conflict for more than 7 years, with continued military and civilian casualties. The conflict dramatically escalated in February 2022 due to an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by the Russian armed forces.

On 25 February 2022, the Ukraine government urgently asked the European Union (EU) for help in providing military equipment.

With the situation deteriorating since the beginning of 2022, EU Member States had already been providing assistance.

EU assistance

The EU will provide military equipment and platforms designed to deliver lethal force, and the maintenance, repair and refit of EPF-financed military equipment and platforms designed to deliver lethal force, and of identical equipment by military personnel in military sites, or in mixed forms of civil-military cooperation or in factories (under Decision (CFSP) 2022/338, as amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/810), as requested by Ukraine, on the following terms.

• Expenditure of a reference amount of €4.120 billion. Expenditure related to the implementation of the assistance measure is eligible as from 1 January 2022 until a date to be determined by the Council of the European Union.
• The maximum eligible expenditure incurred before 11 March 2022 was €450 million. The amount of €1.390 billion was eligible from 11 March to 21 July 2022. The amount of €677.4 million was eligible between 21 July and 30 November 2022.
  • An amount of €1.6 billion is eligible from 1 December 2022, €1.0 billion of which is eligible from 9 February 2023 to 31 May 2023 for financing the reimbursement of donated materiel from existing stocks or from reprioritisation of existing orders, delivered during that period, regarding ground-to-ground and artillery ammunition, and, if requested, missiles. Any unused funds from this latter amount must be used to reimburse all lethal equipment eligible under the assistance measure since 1 December 2022, in accordance with the priorities set in Ukraine’s list of requirements.
• Expenditure related to maintenance and repair has been eligible since 17 October 2022.
• Expenditure related to refit has been eligible since 2 February 2023.
• The assistance will be financed under the EPF.
• It will last for 70 months.

The EU will also provide an additional reference amount of up to €380 million (under Decision (CFSP) 2022/339, as amended several times) for equipment and supplies not designed to deliver lethal force, such as personal protective equipment, first aid kits and fuel, and the maintenance, repair and refit of EPF-financed equipment and supplies not designed to deliver lethal force and of identical equipment, as requested by Ukraine, on the following terms.

• All expenditure must be managed in accordance with Decision (CFSP) 2021/509 and the rules for the implementation of revenue and expenditure financed under the EPF.
• The measures may be carried out by the respective Member State defence ministries.
• The duration of these assistance measures is also set at 70 months (amended from 24, 36 and later 60 months).
• Expenditure related to the implementation of the assistance measure is eligible as from 1 January 2022 until a date to be determined by the Council.
• The maximum eligible expenditure incurred before 11 March 2022 was €50 million.
• The amount of €220 million has been eligible since 21 July 2022.
• Expenditure related to maintenance and repair has been eligible since 17 October 2022.
• Expenditure related to refit has been eligible since 2 February 2023.

In February 2023, Decision (CFSP) 2023/231 was adopted to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces trained by the European Union Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM) in support of Ukraine. It was amended by Decision (CFSP) 2023/2677 raising the financial reference amount for the measure from €45 million to €55 million and extending the duration of Decision (CFSP) 2023/231 to 60 months.

Decision (CFSP) 2023/927 relates to an assistance measure to finance the provision to the Ukrainian Armed Forces of 155-mm-calibre artillery rounds and, if requested, missiles that will be jointly procured by Member States from the European defence industry (in the EU or Norway). The decision also covers deliveries of ammunition and missiles that have undergone an important stage of their manufacturing in the EU or Norway that consists of final assembly.

To be eligible for reimbursement from the EPF, procurement contracts or purchase orders must be concluded before 30 September 2023 in the context of an existing European Defence Agency project or through complementary joint acquisition projects led by a Member State.

The EPF Committee will further define the type and quantity of support to be financed, considering recommendations by the European Union Military Staff, to meet the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Support by Member States

Member States will:

• consider financial and logistical support to Ukraine, including supplying protective equipment;
• permit the transit of military equipment, including accompanying personnel, through their territories, including their airspace.

Monitoring and reporting

As a condition of support, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy will ensure that Ukraine respects its obligations to comply with international law, in particular international human rights and international humanitarian law, and with the following EPF rules:

• assets will be used properly and efficiently for the purposes for which they were provided;
• assets will be maintained to ensure usability and operational availability over their life cycle;
• assets will not be lost, or transferred without EU consent to anyone other than those identified in the arrangements, at the end of their life cycle or when the assistance measure ends;
• compliance with any other requirements established by the Council.

Post-shipment control monitoring complies with the EPF’s integrated methodological framework for assessing and identifying assistance measures.

The High Representative provides 6-monthly reports on implementation to the Political and Security Committee.

The Political and Security Committee may decide to suspend the assistance measures wholly or partially, or recommend that the Council terminate their implementation.