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 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 75 15) and/or Defence (ACOSSTRAT-EDF@mil.be).
Work programme 2022
With a total budget of approximately €924 million, the 2022 EDF calls for proposals, covering 33 topics, have been published on the European Commission “Funding & Tenders” portal on 9 June 2022. The deadline for submitting proposals is 24 November 2022.
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 2021.