Commission proposes five EDPCIs, EIC opens €30 million equity for defence scale ups, SAFE disbursements accelerate to Croatia and Cyprus
Brussels moved on multiple fronts in the first week of July 2026. The Commission tabled five European Defence Projects of Common Interest with a €190 billion 2036 funding ambition, while the EIC opened its first direct equity call for defence scale ups on 1 July. SAFE disbursements landed for Croatia and Lithuania, Finland, the UK, the Netherlands and Poland launched a new Multilateral Defence Mechanism, and Helsing and OHB pushed forward on AI enabled space targeting.
Commission proposes five EDPCIs with €190 billion funding ambition to 2036
On 3 July 2026 the European Commission formally proposed five European Defence Projects of Common Interest covering drones and counter drones, maritime and seabed defence, space, air and missile defence, and Eastern Flank security. Under the €1.5 billion European Defence Industry Programme, the Commission earmarked €325 million as initial seed capital, with a combined funding ambition of around €190 billion by 2036 across the five projects. On average 18 Member States participate in each project, and Ukraine is a participant in four of the five, with the Council now expected to formally adopt the list before EDIP funding can flow. The EDPCI construct is explicitly designed to aggregate cross border demand for capabilities too large for any single Member State. For founders, this signals where the next decade of EU defence capital will concentrate: mapping product roadmaps to the five EDPCI domains, and joining consortia now, is the most direct route to EDIP eligible revenue.
Startups
EIC opens €30 million direct equity Defence Scale Up call on 1 July
The European Innovation Council opened its EIC STEP Scale Up Defence call on 1 July 2026, offering up to €30 million in direct equity to individual companies scaling in priority areas including air and missile defence, drones and counter drones, and other critical defence technologies. The Commission notes this is the first time an EU programme has taken direct equity in defence companies, with the EIC co investing in rounds typically sized €50 million to €150 million or more, and target round sizes of three to five times the EIC ticket. Eligibility covers companies in EU Member States, Horizon Europe associated EEA countries, and Ukraine, with a submission deadline of 28 October 2026. For founders, this is a genuine step change: EIC equity can anchor a Series B or C, de risk co investors around ITAR free supply chains, and shorten the path from prototype to serial production, provided the round is already largely assembled by the autumn window.
Source: EIC STEP Scale Up Defence call opens today, European Innovation Council
Market
SAFE disbursements accelerate: Croatia receives €255 million, Lithuania €956 million
The Commission confirmed a wave of SAFE first disbursements in the reporting week, with Croatia receiving €255 million on 10 July 2026 and Lithuania €956 million on 24 June, alongside earlier tranches to Cyprus (€177 million on 18 June) and Poland (€6.56 billion on 29 May). SAFE is the €150 billion loan instrument adopted in May 2025 to finance urgent Member State defence procurement, with a hard rule that no more than 35% of component costs may originate outside the EU, EEA EFTA or Ukraine. The category structure covers ground combat, small drones and counter drone systems, and strategic enablers including C4ISTAR and space assets and services. For founders, the disbursement cadence matters more than the headline: cash is now actually leaving Brussels, national procurement offices in Vilnius, Zagreb, Nicosia and Warsaw are the immediate buyers to target, and EU content compliance is the gating commercial question.
Source: SAFE Security Action for Europe, Defence Industry and Space, European Commission
Previous issues
29 June 2026
Brussels prepares strategic defence projects, Romania fields counter-drone shield, Naval Group hands over De Grasse
The European Commission is preparing to unveil around five joint strategic defence projects this week, with €325 million earmarked under EDIP and two streams focused on drones and Eastern flank protection. Romania has integrated the Merops counter-drone system into its national air defence after May's Russian drone incident, while Naval Group delivered the fourth Barracuda-class submarine to the French Navy on 24 June. In Vilnius, Granta Autonomy launched a new unmanned systems venture, and Finland confirmed Europe's first sustainment centre for the MLRS Common Fire Control System with Lockheed Martin and Insta. The signal across the week: EU-level capital is finally moving toward named projects, and procurement is consolidating around sovereign supply chains.
23 June 2026
EU Council accelerates Eastern Flank Watch, EIC opens direct equity, E2D fund launches, Frankenburg eyes unicorn round
European leaders meeting on 18-19 June endorsed faster work on the Eastern Flank Watch and a Drone and Counter-Drone Action Plan, while the European Innovation Council opened a €100 million direct-equity call for defence scale-ups, the first of its kind. On the capital side, Earlybird and AVP unveiled E2D, a €500 million defence and dual-use growth fund with first close on 30 June, and Estonia's Frankenburg Technologies opened its Riga missile assembly site while sounding out a €100 million Series B at a unicorn valuation. Destinus marked its 1,000th T150 turbojet, signalling that European cruise-missile propulsion is finally moving to industrial scale.
15 June 2026
Isar Aerospace lands €270M, Healey quits over UK DIP shortfall, Helsing reveals CA-1EA at ILA Berlin
European launch player Isar Aerospace closed a €270 million Series D at a roughly €2 billion post-money on 9 June, while UK Defence Secretary John Healey resigned on 11 June over a Defence Investment Plan he said falls £13 billion short of MoD needs. At ILA Berlin, Helsing unveiled the CA-1EA electronic-attack drone and the EU signed a joint declaration with five member states on an In-Space Operations and Services pilot. Mercedes-Benz also tied up with Munich counter-drone startup Tytan Technologies, in a week where defence-industrial deal flow ran hot from Berlin to Brussels.