Paris-Brussels, 12 December 2024 — The European Commission (EC), represented by the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), and the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR), represented by the OCCAR-EA Director, have signed the Contribution Agreement (CA), marking the first significant step for the 2nd Stage of the MMPC Programme for the development and production phases of at least two ship’s prototypes and for potential new stages to provide new Classes of Corvettes that could involve four Nations (Italy, Spain, France and Greece).
The purpose of this Agreement is to entrust tasks to OCCAR for the implementation of the Action “European Patrol Corvette 2” (EPC2) and to provide OCCAR a financial contribution for the implementation. This CA establishes the rules for the implementation and for the payment of the Union Contribution and defines the relations between OCCAR and the Commission.
With a duration of 24 months, the MMPC Call 1 covers a concept study and the initial design of the ship. The Call 2 frames a new stage of the programme for a four-year period of activities (2026 – 2029), and aims at completing the development phase and producing at least two prototypes - one for Full Combat Multipurpose (FCM) and one for Long Range Multipurpose version (LRM).
By joining MMPC Call 1 & 2 Programmes, managed by OCCAR-EA, Participating States an Industries intend to actively contribute to the European autonomy: Economy, Defence, Technology, Industry and Security. They will indeed support consolidating the competences and development of advanced technologies among the main European industrial players.
