Brussels/ Belgium, European Commission, 2 June 2025 - OCCAR
(Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation)-EA Director, Mr. Joachim Sucker,
met with the Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius of the European
Commission.
During the meeting the Commissioner and the OCCAR-EA Director exchanged their
views on future opportunities and challenges of European armaments cooperation.
Both affirmed the already strong ties between the EU and OCCAR and its role
in the international defence arena as an independent, international
Organisation for the management of complex, armaments cooperation programmes
for and on behalf of its Member and Participating States and the EU.
To date, OCCAR manages seven major EU-funded programmes through the European
Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) as well as the European
Defence Fund (EDF). With high-profile programmes such as ESSOR and MALE RPAS (Eurodrone)
under EDIDP, and EPC, EU HYDEF, ENACSOS (E-NACSOS), and HYDIS under EDF, the EU
investment in OCCAR Programmes has already reached the mark of around €600
million. More programmes are expected soon.
In this context, Commissioner Kubilius and OCCAR-EA Director Mr. Sucker
discussed both institutions´ lessons learned regarding the initiation and
implementation of complex multinational armament cooperation as well as the
increased and critical relevance of the space domain.
OCCAR-EA Director Mr. Sucker underlined the importance of ensuring non-EU
countries’ access to and eligibility for EU initiatives. Beside the OCCAR
Member State UK, third countries do and will play a crucial role in OCCAR
programmes, be it as an OCCAR Participating State or as an OCCAR Observer
State, in a growing number of EU-funded OCCAR programmes.
On 14 November, 2024 the European Commission, represented by the
Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), and the
Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) signed the landmark
Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA). This agreement represents a
significant step toward the European Union’s goal of a stronger, more unified
defence sector, simplifying the implementation of EU defence projects under
indirect management.
By formalizing working procedures between the European Commission and OCCAR, a
robust foundation for future cooperation in European Defence Programmes has
been established.
The FFPA is an excellent example for how OCCAR, guided by its Member States, is
continuously expanding its range of programmes and inter-institutional ties
(i.e. with NATO
and the European Space Agency - ESA) and thereby its footprint in
the international defence arena and beyond.
On 19 March, 2025 the EU Commission presented the “White
Paper for European Defence Readiness 2030” as part of the €800 billion
Readiness 2030” initiative.
The paper aims at proposing solutions to advance the
readiness of EU Member States between now and 2030 by providing financing of
defence efforts in order to fill capability gaps and foster EU armaments
cooperation, i.e. by regulatory simplification and harmonisation). Other key elements are the strengthening of
international partnerships (NATO, etc.), the continuation of support to Ukraine
and the expansion of the European Investment Banks´ (EIB) involvement in
defence related projects.
With the Security Action for Europe (SAFE), EU Member States
will be able to tap into a loan fund of €150 billion with beneficial credit
conditions.
This may also impact current and future OCCAR Programmes.