Ukraine’s Defence Integration: From Political Promise to Industrial Partnership
Ukraine’s Defence Integration: From Political Promise to Industrial Partnership
The integration of Ukraine into the EU’s defence-industrial framework no longer rests solely on political declarations. Since 2025, a structured legal and financial architecture is in place to support Ukraine’s participation in joint procurement and industrial cooperation with EU Member States. Regulation (EU) 2025/1106 (SAFE) enables common procurement involving Ukraine under emergency provisions rooted in Article 122 TFEU. In parallel, Regulation (EU) 2025/2643 (EDIP) establishes co-financing incentives and a Ukraine-specific instrument grounded in Articles 173 and 212 TFEU. These acts, alongside the European Peace Facility and pre-existing instruments such as ASAP and EDIRPA, define precise legal conditions for Ukraine’s partial inclusion in the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base. However, participation is conditional, never automatic: the Council must authorise third-country involvement, and Ukrainian entities must comply with EU security standards, eligibility filters, and origin thresholds. In legal terms, Ukraine is neither an external supplier nor a fully-integrated Member State actor. It is now positioned as a regulated co-participant in selected EU industrial operations, governed by formal mechanisms that delimit its role, rights, and obligations.
This report provides an exhaustive analysis of how Ukraine’s inclusion in the EU’s defence-industrial policy is operationalised through official legal instruments. Subscribers will find a detailed reconstruction of the SAFE Regulation’s eligibility and procedural architecture, including the role of emergency derogations, security clauses, and co-financing incentives. The report also analyses how EDIP introduces structural and budgetary mechanisms for cross-border industrial projects, enabling Member States and Ukraine to jointly develop, acquire, and produce defence materiel under EU funding. Particular attention is given to risk-sharing, production scaling, supply chain constraints, and the transformation of the Eastern Flank into an integrated defence-industrial zone. Every assertion is documented through binding EU acts in force as of 25 January 2026. The integration of Ukraine into this system is presented not as a political ambition but as a regulated outcome with specific legal, financial, and industrial implications. This research product supports policy, procurement, and investment decisions by tracing the contours of a controlled, treaty-based shift in European defence geography.