Calls for EIB to allow defence-related investments; MIM offers path to ramping up European firearms production
March 4, 2024
The European Parliament has approved a resolution calling on the European Investment Bank (EIB) to abolish restrictions on financing ammunition and weapons production, in a bid to ramp up security-related expenditure in response to the continuing conflict in Ukraine, reports Euroactiv. The move has the potential to boost investment in the region’s Metal Injection Molding (MIM) capacity. MIM is a key technology for firearms production that, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, already accounted for almost 20% of European MIM sales by value.
The EIB’s current mandate is reported to limit the range of permissible defence-related investments to so-called “dual-use” technologies, which can be used for civilian and military purposes. According to the Bank’s lending criteria, most of the technology’s expected future revenue must derive from its civilian use.
This also means the bank is currently explicitly prohibited from investing directly in ammunition, weapons, and “core military and police infrastructure”.
The vote was held on the same day that the EIB president, Nadia Calviño, is reported to have told a plenary session of the European Parliament that the bank would “step up” its “support for European industry in the areas of security and defence.” Calviño also told MEPs that the EIB will engage with the European Commission and other stakeholders on the “definition and scope” of dual-use technologies.
The bank will also attempt to accelerate the deployment of the €6 billion in funds that remain available under the bank’s 2022 Strategic Europe Security Initiative (SESI), of which €2 billion has already been invested in drone technology, cybersecurity, and border security.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was reported to have told MEPs that she was “very encouraged by the words of President Calviño that the EIB is ready to do more to contribute to joint projects that boost the European defence industry.”
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