EU countries have allocated €12 billion, initially planned for cohesion policy, to the defense sector.
The mid-term review of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy for the 2021-2027 period has led to a significant reallocation of resources towards new strategic priorities, with €34.6 billion redirected by Member States. Among these, about €12 billion have been allocated to defense, while the largest share remains directed towards competitiveness.
According to Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, “The mid-term review shows that cohesion policy can adapt to Europe’s evolving challenges and do so in record time.”
Yesterday the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President presented the results of the mid-term review of the 2021-2027 programming, highlighting how Member States have amended 186 programmes, of which 137 are regional and the rest national.
All the details.
COHESION POLICY REVIEW
“The reallocation of €34.6 billion to cohesion funds is an important achievement,” Fitto stated, adding that “These are real, concrete, and immediately available resources to support our priorities.” An outcome made “possible thanks to ongoing dialogue with the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, Member States, and regions.”
Overall, €34.6 billion have been redirected towards new priorities identified at the European level. Among these, competitiveness and defense stand out, with €15.2 billion and €11.9 billion respectively, followed by interventions for the housing emergency (€3.3 billion), water resilience (€3.1 billion), and energy security (€1.2 billion).
NEW STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND GEOPOLITICAL CONTEXT
“Through the mid-term review, we amended the regulation to give Member States and regions the flexibility to redirect part of their cohesion policy allocations towards current priorities,” explained Vice-President Fitto.
In April 2025, the European Commission proposed to encourage Member States and Regions to reorient investments towards five strategic priorities: competitiveness, defense, housing, water resilience, and energy transition. To facilitate this process, the Commission introduced financial incentives, regulatory simplifications, and a one-year extension for the implementation of amended programmes.
Almost all countries have joined the review, reallocating about 10% of the overall Cohesion Policy budget, amounting to €367 billion. Only Austria and Luxembourg have not modified their allocations.
COMPETITIVENESS AND DEFENSE AT THE CENTER OF INVESTMENTS
Thus, “The primary priority in terms of allocated resources is competitiveness,” highlighted Commissioner Fitto. Then, in second place is defense, which represents about one-third of the reprogrammed resources. In particular, €11.9 billion will be allocated to dual-use investments: drones, space resources, and military mobility.
On this point, the Vice-President emphasized how “the potential use of Cohesion Funds for defense purposes” is “a delicate matter.” “With the mid-term review, we made it possible, but it remains a choice for governments and regions, accountable to their citizens,” Commissioner Fitto stressed.
THE ITALIAN REPROGRAMMING
Finally, Italy has reprogrammed 35 of the 48 cohesion programmes (which have an overall allocation of about €41 billion). In this way, our country ranks second in terms of reprogramming volume after Poland (leading with €8 billion reallocated, with a strong focus on defense). Specifically, €4.665 billion are allocated to competitiveness, €1.119 billion to housing policies, €629 million to water resource management, €396 million to energy transition, and €248 million to defense.
