European Defence Projects of Common Interest: Why They Matter
Updated: 1 day ago
Europe is beginning to build defence cooperation at a scale that goes beyond individual R&D projects.
In July 2026, the European Commission proposed the first five European Defence Projects of Common Interest - EDPCIs under the European Defence Industry Programme.
Together, the proposed projects cover drones and counter-drone systems, maritime and seabed defence, space, integrated air and missile defence, and the EU’s eastern flank. The Commission estimates their combined investment ambition at around €190 billion by 2036.
That scale makes EDPCIs worth watching closely.
They connect capability priorities, industrial capacity, common procurement and long-term multinational investment inside one framework.
For defence companies, this creates a new layer of the European ecosystem: large capability programmes around which supply chains, technologies, procurement and industrial partnerships may develop for years.
Overview
What EDPCIs are
European Defence Projects of Common Interest were created through the European Defence Industry Programme - EDIP.
The legal framework defines them as collaborative industrial projects designed to strengthen the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base while contributing to military capabilities considered critical for the security and defence interests of the Union.
Their scale is one of the defining features.
An EDPCI can bring together many countries around a capability that requires:
long-term investment;
industrial ramp-up;
common architectures;
interoperability;
testing infrastructure;
joint procurement;
and coordination between multiple national defence systems.
This creates a bridge between European capability priorities and actual industrial implementation.
The projects are also expected to remain consistent with relevant EU and NATO capability priorities, while taking existing PESCO and European Defence Agency activities into account.
How the first projects were selected
The Commission launched a call for expressions of interest to Member States in February 2026.
By the deadline of 29 May, governments had submitted nine proposals.
The Commission assessed them against the conditions established in Article 35 of the EDIP Regulation and selected five proposals for the first group of EDPCIs.
The assessment considered factors such as:
contribution to critical military capabilities;
relevance for the European defence industrial base;
scale and long-term impact;
industrial cooperation;
interoperability;
reduction of strategic dependencies;
alignment with other European and NATO initiatives;
benefits extending across a wider part of the Union.
The proposed projects involve large groups of participating countries. According to the Commission, an average of 18 Member States participate in each project, and Ukraine participates in four of the five.
As of September 2026, the formal Council procedure for identifying the first EDPCIs remains ongoing. Once the Council adopts the list, the projects can become eligible for dedicated EDIP support.
The five proposed EDPCIs
Project | Objective | Key Capability Areas | Indicative Investment |
DECODER DronE and Counter Drone European Resolve | Supports coordinated development, production scaling and deployment of interoperable drone and counter-drone capabilities across multiple operational domains. Plans also include joint procurement, additional European production capacity and a European network of drone technology hubs for testing and innovation. | Autonomy; electronic warfare; sensors; communications; interceptors; AI; command and control; high-volume manufacturing. | €3.5–5 billion by 2033 |
Integrated Maritime and Seabed Defence (IMSD) | Aims to establish a federated and interoperable European architecture covering threats across the maritime domain, including the ability to prevent, detect, deter and respond to threats affecting European maritime and seabed infrastructure. The long investment horizon reflects the nature of EDPCIs as programmes built around long capability cycles rather than short funding rounds. | Underwater systems; unmanned maritime platforms; sensors; sonar; surveillance; secure communications; critical infrastructure protection; data fusion; command and control. | €43–72 billion by 2045 |
SPACE | Focuses on strengthening European defence capabilities in space. Space is increasingly connected with other military domains: air defence depends on early warning, military operations depend on communications and positioning, ISR increasingly relies on satellite constellations, and resilience requires alternatives when navigation or communications are disrupted. | Space-based early warning; satellite communications; ISR; space domain awareness; positioning, navigation and timing; navigation warfare; responsive space systems; multi-mission space architectures. | ~€24 billion by 2034 |
EU-FIAMD EU Federated Integrated Air and Missile Defence including Early Warning | Aims to connect different national air and missile defence capabilities through a federated architecture. The objective is to allow different national systems to operate together more effectively while increasing Europe’s industrial capacity to produce the technologies required for integrated air and missile defence. | Sensors; effectors; early warning; command and control; testing; certification; training; industrial ramp-up; common procurement. | — |
Eastern Flank Watch (EFW) | Focuses on strengthening security along the EU’s eastern border through a broad multi-domain effort, contributing to protection of EU territory and stronger European defence readiness. Its broad scope could make it one of the most diverse industrial ecosystems among the proposed projects. | Surveillance; drones; counter-drone systems; electronic warfare; air defence; precision strike; communications; ground systems; sensors; infrastructure. | €60–100 billion by 2036 |
The scale of investment
The numbers behind the first EDPCIs deserve attention.
The Commission describes a combined investment ambition of around €190 billion by 2036.
That figure should be understood as the overall investment considered by participating countries across the proposed projects.
EDIP itself has a much smaller budget.
The 2026 EDIP Work Programme allocates €325 million specifically to support the establishment and initial deployment of EDPCIs.
This difference tells us something important about the model.
EU-level funding can help organise, launch and coordinate large projects.
Most of the industrial investment required to build the capabilities will have to come through a broader combination of:
Member State budgets;
common procurement;
national investment;
EU instruments;
industrial investment;
and potentially future European financing mechanisms.
EDPCIs therefore provide a framework around which much larger pools of capital can be coordinated.
How EDPCIs connect with EDIP
EDPCIs are one component of the wider European Defence Industry Programme.
EDIP covers several areas designed to strengthen European defence industrial readiness, including:
industrial reinforcement;
common procurement;
security of supply;
cooperation with Ukraine;
European armament structures;
and EDPCIs.
The programme has a budget of €1.5 billion for 2025–2027, with €325 million allocated to EDPCIs. (Defence Industry and Space)
The EDPCI mechanism is particularly important because it creates a structure for large multinational industrial efforts.
A project can combine several activities across the capability lifecycle:
technology development;
integration;
production;
testing;
industrial ramp-up;
common procurement;
deployment;
and long-term capability development.
That creates continuity between technologies developed through instruments such as EDF and the larger industrial and procurement structures emerging through EDIP.
Why they matter for industry
The first question for a defence company should probably be:
Where could we fit inside these projects?
Few SMEs will participate at the level of designing an entire European air-defence architecture or maritime defence system.
Many can contribute to the technologies and supply chains required to build them.
An EDPCI can generate demand for:
components;
sensors;
software;
AI;
communications;
electronic warfare;
propulsion;
materials;
manufacturing;
testing;
This is where the industrial significance becomes much larger than the five project names suggest.
Take DECODER.
The visible capability is drones and counter-drone systems.
The underlying industrial ecosystem can include:
airframes;
engines;
batteries;
RF systems;
radars;
electro-optics;
navigation;
autonomy;
interceptors;
The same logic applies to the other four projects.
For smaller companies, the strategic opportunity is often located several layers below the complete military system.
Ukraine’s role
Ukraine participates in four of the five proposed EDPCIs, according to the Commission.
That is strategically important.
The EDIP framework explicitly allows Ukrainian participation in EDPCIs, connecting Ukrainian industrial capabilities with longer-term European capability development.
Ukraine brings several advantages into these projects:
operational experience;
rapid technology iteration;
large-scale use of unmanned systems;
counter-drone experience;
electronic warfare expertise;
battlefield validation;
and experience scaling defence production during wartime.
For Ukrainian companies, EDPCIs can create routes into European industrial structures that extend beyond individual grant applications.
A Ukrainian technology could become:
part of a multinational capability architecture;
a subsystem inside a European product;
a manufacturing component;
a testing or validation capability;
a supplier to a European prime;
or part of a longer-term joint procurement structure.
That makes understanding the industrial structure around each EDPCI increasingly important.
Practical company action plan
Companies do not need to wait until every EDPCI procurement mechanism is fully defined.
The current phase can already be used for positioning.
1. Identify the Relevant EDPCI | Start with the five projects and determine whether your capability has a credible connection with one of them. Avoid forcing the fit. A clear connection to one project is more useful than a weak connection to all five. |
2. Map Your Place in the Capability Architecture | Define precisely what you provide. For example: Capability: counter-UAS Your role: interceptor Integration layer: C2 + detection network Potential customers: system integrators / ministries Dependencies: radar, target data, communications Industrial contribution: production capacity + operational validation. This makes partnership discussions considerably easier. |
3. Study the Participating Countries | The countries involved will influence: requirements; industrial leadership; future procurement; consortium structures; political priorities. Identify which participating Member States already have strong industrial capacity in your area and where capability gaps remain. |
4. Map the Industrial Players | Look beyond the programme name. Identify: prime contractors; system integrators; specialised SMEs; research organisations; testing centres; national defence agencies; relevant industry associations. The most realistic route into a large EDPCI may be through its industrial supply chain. |
5. Follow EDIP Implementation | Track: Council adoption of the EDPCI list; dedicated EDIP funding; calls and implementation documents; procurement mechanisms; national announcements; industrial partnerships connected with each project. The structure will become clearer as the projects move from political approval towards implementation. |
6. Prepare Evidence of Industrial Readiness | Companies should be ready to explain: current TRL; production capacity; time to scale; component origin; supply-chain risks; IP ownership; existing military users; interoperability; testing results; integration requirements. Large capability programmes require predictable industrial partners. |
7. Build Relationships Before Procurement Starts | The strongest positioning often happens before a tender appears. Engage with companies and organisations already connected to the relevant capability area. The objective is to become visible as a credible part of the future solution before industrial structures become fixed. |
The significance of EDPCIs lies in the scale around which they organise European cooperation.
Five capability areas now have the potential to connect dozens of governments, major industrial groups, specialised suppliers, technology companies and procurement structures over the next decade.
For companies, the opportunity will rarely arrive under one label reading “EDPCI opportunity.”
It will emerge through the programmes, procurement decisions, industrial partnerships and supply chains created around these projects.
That is why the right time to map them is before those structures are fully established.
