BRUSSELS (Dispatches) -- The European Commission on Tuesday proposed spending 500 million euros ($508 million) to finance joint defense purchases among member states to replenish weapons stocks following Russia’s launch of a military in Ukraine.
In a first for the European Union, the fund would draw on the EU budget over the next two years and would help countries replace depleted stockpiles after arms shipments to Ukraine emptied arsenals.
Defense spending in Europe varies widely among the 27 EU member states and lacks coordination, drawing criticism that neighboring countries often double up on investments, driving up prices.
But under the impulse of France, ambitions on common defense have gathered steam in recent years, including a 7.9-billion-euro defense fund agreed last year, in a separate program.
Under the latest proposal, the fund would accept purchase requests from at least three member states at a time when spending on weapons is ramping up due to the war in Ukraine.
The commission said replenishing stockpiles, replacing Soviet-era legacy systems and reinforcing air and missile defense systems were the top priorities.
European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday another 500 million euros ($504 million) of EU funding to supply arms to Ukraine, taking the bloc’s security support to 2.5 billion euros since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The money should help the EU continue to jointly buy equipment and supplies for the Ukrainian military, including lethal weaponry, which the bloc has said should be used for defensive purposes.
EU rules normally prevent the bloc from using its seven-year budget to fund military operations, but the so-called European Peace Facility, which has a limit of 5 billion euros, is off-budget and can be used to provide military aid.
However, with half of the seven-year facility already being given to Ukraine after just five months, it is unclear how the EU can keep up its financing of the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment if the war continues.
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell told a news conference that was highly likely, saying that the war would go on. He sought to show Ukraine that the EU was not giving up, adding that he expected EU ambassadors to approve a new EU import ban on Russian gold later this week.
The unprecedented scope of Western sanctions on Russia includes an oil embargo, banning transactions with Russia’s central bank and freezing its assets, and halting new investments in Russia.