This article
examines the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) – a regulation adopted by the European Union (EU) in July 2023
to boost the production capabilities of the EU defence industry with a view to
supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia. The article explains the context
in which the regulation was adopted, examines its content, and discusses its
consequences for EU integration in the field of defence. At the same time,
however, it also considers some critical aspects of ASAP, highlighting the
limitations of the regulation approved by the European Parliament (EP) and the
Council – particularly when compared with the original proposal of the
European Commission. As the article argues, the ASAP regulation endeavours to
support the capacity of the EU defence industry to live up to the challenges
posed by the war in Ukraine, funding with EU money ammunitions’ production and procurement. At the same time, ASAP also
positions the EU to address in a supranational way a more threatening
geo-strategic environment. From this point of view, therefore, the ASAP is a
step in the direction of establishing a European defence union, seen both as a
combination of military capability and industrial capacity. Nevertheless, ASAP
falls well short of an EU equivalent of the United States’ Defence Production Act, which suggests that further steps are
needed towards the establishment of a real EU defence union. Yet, as the war in
Ukraine turns into an ongoing conflict of attrition, the article posits that
such a union would be needed –
asap.