European Defence Fund (EDF)
The European Defence Fund (EDF) is a financing instrument of the European Union aiming at supporting and developing the strategic autonomy of its defence industry.
Development and research actions are financed based on an annual work programme. During the period 2021-2027, a total budget of nearly €8 billion will be allocated to the various actions. SMEs, start-ups and non-traditional defence entities will play a key role in strengthening the competitiveness and innovative character of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB).
Information on the EDF, conditions of participation and evaluation criteria can be found on the website of the website of the FPS Economy. Entities wishing to participate in the EDF are still strongly encouraged to contact the FPS Economy (nfp-edf@economie.fgov.be or +32 2 277 92 37) and/or Defence (ACOSSTRAT-EDF@mil.be).
Work programme 2023
With a total budget of approximately €1.2 billion, the 2023 EDF calls for proposals, covering 34 topics, have been published by the European Commission on 30 March 2023. The deadline for submitting proposals is 22 November 2023.
Press release
Work programme and calls documents
Work programme 2022
On 26 June 2023, the European Commission announced its plans to grant a total EU funding of almost €832 million supporting 41 collaborative defence research and development projects that had been selected following the calls for proposals under the work programme 2022 of the European Defence Fund (EDF).
More details about the winning proposals are available on the page Awards.
Work programme 2021
On 20 July 2022, the European Commission announced its plans to grant a total EU funding of almost €1.2 billion supporting 61 collaborative defence research and development projects that had been selected following the first ever calls for proposals under the European Defence Fund (EDF).
More details about the winning proposals are available on the page Awards.