By BRUSSELS. Nov 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Union has the industrial base to produce 1 million ammunition for Ukraine per year, it is up to the EU states, Member of the European Commission (EC) for Internal Market Thierry Breton.
The European Commissioner told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday before a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in the format of defense ministers that he was in charge of the ammunition production capacity and confirmed that the target of producing more than a million ammunition during the year, which they have set and which should be achieved in the spring, would be achieved. He said that now it is up to the Member States to place orders, this is not within the competence of the European Commission. It is necessary that the EU states do this, and also that they check that this production based on their territory is prioritized for Ukraine. Member states are responsible for this, Breton said.
The EC member said that during the period of peace, Europe has significantly reduced its military production capacity, but the industrial base remains, and the question is that production capacity needs to be increased. He therefore launched the Act in Support of Ammunition Production programme (ASAP), which provides the European Commission with the means to help the EU industrial base ramp up production very quickly.
It is the ASAP program, according to Breton, that gives him reason to believe that the target for the production of ammunition will be achieved. The increase in production capacity in the EU countries is happening and is proceeding quickly, he assured. Products, the European Commissioner said, should be sent to Ukraine as a priority, and this is the task of the member states.
This is how the European Commissioner responded to the opinion of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius that the EU will not be able to keep its promise to Ukraine to supply 1 million ammunition. Before a meeting of EU defense chiefs, Pistorius said that the EU does not have sufficient production capacity for this.
The ASAP program, designed for 2023-2025, provides for the allocation of EUR 500 million to support investment projects worth up to EUR 1.4 billion to increase the production of ammunition and missiles in the European Union.
