From fragmented markets to strategic sutonomy: The European defence industry programme

This paper examines the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) as the European Union’s latest attempt to strengthen the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and address longstanding structural challenges in the European defence market. Through a qualitative analysis of the EDIP Regulation and recent policy literature on European defence-industrial cooperation, it focuses on two key governance mechanisms: the Structures for European Armament Programme (SEAPs) and the European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCIs). The paper argues that EDIP represents an innovative shift from a project-based financing approach towards an incentive-based model aimed at promoting more permanent forms of joint procurement, industrial integration, and multinational capability development. SEAPs introduce more institutionalised procurement governance, while EDPCIs concentrate financial and political support on critical defence capabilities to reduce strategic dependencies. Although financial resources remain limited, the article concludes that EDIP may constitute an important step towards greater European defence readiness and strategic autonomy and may lay the groundwork for deeper defence-industrial integration in future EU financial frameworks.