Ecorys and DG DEFIS analyse the contribution of the defence sector to regional development

The defence sector has made a significant contribution to regional development over the past programming period through ESIF.

Specifically, the European Structural and Investment Funds have supported 972 defence related and dual use projects during the 2014-2020 programming period. The funded projects identified in this study cover a broad range of activities, including technology, facilities, infrastructure, training, internationalisation and exports, involving a range of players in the supply chain from major multinational firms to micro-SMEs. The 1.01 billion euros investment from ESIF leveraged an additional 860 million euros from other sources (including defence industry investment). The activities mapped during this study align closely with the policy objectives of the previous and forthcoming ESIF programming period, indicating that the defence sector can play a significant role in enabling the delivery of these policy objectives through accessing ESIF funding.

The general objective of the study is to provide an overview of how and to what extent defence related and dual use activities funded by European Structural and Investment Funds have been integrated in and contributed towards the framework of the EU’s cohesion policy for the programming period 2014-2020, as well as determining the potential for the forthcoming 2021-2027 programming period. The geographical scope of the study is all 27 EU Member States as well as the United Kingdom, who formally left the EU shortly before the start of this study. Nevertheless, the UK is included in this study as it was fully involved in the implementation of ESIF in the MFF 2014-2020.

If you want to learn more about this Study and its main findings, please contact our colleague Javier Fernandez