Commissioner: EU can produce 1 million shells per year with enough effort from member states.

European Commissioner Thierry Breton said that the EU has the capacity to purchase or produce 1 million artillery shells by the spring, provided enough effort from member states, European Pravda reported on Nov.

14. This would be a positive sign for the EU's pledge to provide Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier that the EU's plan to provide Ukraine with a million shells within a year will likely miss the March 2024 deadline.

However, according to Breton, the EU has increased its ammunition production by 20-30% since February and should be able to produce 1 million shells annually by the next spring. Although the bloc has sufficient capacities, the fulfillment of the target depends on individual members, Breton added. Notably, Kuleba said that the EU does not lack the political will, but the shell delivery is hampered by the "lamentable state" of the European defense industry.

Investigation: EU inability to ramp up production behind acute ammunition shortages in Ukraine

Editor's note: This investigation is a collaboration between the Kyiv Independent and partners, including The Investigative Desk, Lighthouse Reports, and Follow the Money (Netherlands), El Diario (Spain), Delfi (Estonia), and Liberation (France). Key findings: * Over a year into Russia's full-sca...

"I am responsible for the production capacity of ammunition, so I can confirm that the goal of producing more than a million ammunition rounds annually... can be achieved," Breton said. "It is the member states who must place the order for this ammunition, who must produce it, and who must ensure that it is produced primarily for Ukraine.

All this is in the hands of the member countries," the European commissioner for the internal market said before meeting EU defense ministers. According to a plan approved by the EU in March, the bloc would provide Ukraine with a million shells within a span of one year. The first step of the program involves reimbursing supplies from member states' own stocks, the second step is joint purchase of new munitions.

On Nov.

13, the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that the bloc had completed the first step of the program by delivering some 300,000 shells from EU arsenals. According to Borrell, the next step will depend on how fast the contracts can be drawn and the speed of industrial production. He also suggested rerouting some of the European munitions earmarked for third-party countries to Ukraine.

The bloc's plan to ramp up shell production to boost Ukraine's artillery capabilities has been plagued by bureaucracy and protectionism of individual countries, an investigation by the Kyiv Independent and its partners revealed. Ukraine's need for munition supplies becomes ever more pressing as Russia is boosting its defense budget for 2024 and was reportedly able to secure over 1 million shells from North Korea, while political infighting in Washington causes cutbacks in U.S. military support for Kyiv.

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press.

He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.