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The European Commission released on March 19, 2025 The White Paper for European Defence - Readiness 2030. This White Paper serves as a foundational document for the ReArm Europe plan, an initiative to boost defence spending, mobilizing up to €800bn for military capabilities. This article will highlight the keypoints of the White Paper.
The White Paper sets out setps to rebuild European defence, to support Ukraine, address critical capacity shortfalls and establish a strong and competitive defence industrial base. Priority areas essential to the establishment of a strong European defense include ammunition and missiles; drones and counter-drones systems; AI, Quantum, cyber and Electronic Warfare.
In parallel with capacity building, the document specifies the type of support the European Union should provide to Ukraine. It includes provision of air defence systems, missiles, drones and support to the development of Ukraine's own production capacity, including through joint ventures between European and Ukrainian industries.
Ukraine is today using its experience from the frontline to continuously adapt and upgrade equiment to the point that the country has become the world's leading defence and technology innovation laboratory.
The European Defence Technology and Industrial Base (EDTIB) remains however at the forefront of the development of more advance large-scale defence systems and technologies. The integration of the Ukrainian defence industry into the EDTIB will help it to scale up, modernise, consolidate, and provide cost-efficient defence products to the global market.
The European Commission is working toward adopting the European Defence Industry Programme draft Regulation. Once agreed, it will pave the way for Ukraine's integration in the European defence equipment market through a dedicated Ukraine Support Instrument (USI).
