Five cross-border defence initiatives have been granted approval by the European Council under the designation of European Defence Projects of Common Interest, rendering them eligible to receive funding via the European Defence Industry Programme. Endorsed on 28 September, the initiatives span unmanned aerial vehicles and counter-drone technology, naval and undersea security, space-based capabilities, layered air and missile defence, and safeguarding the bloc's eastern border regions. The DECODER initiative — short for DronE and Counter-Drone European Resolve — aims to advance the design, manufacture, and operational rollout of unmanned systems alongside technologies to neutralise aerial drone threats. The IMSD programme will concentrate on interoperable capabilities for identifying, deterring and countering threats across both maritime and seabed environments, encompassing the protection of infrastructure within those areas. An dedicated programme focused on space will cover areas including missile-launch detection through early-warning satellites, orbital communications, intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, positioning and timing infrastructure, navigation warfare capabilities, and the swift replenishment of orbital assets. The EU-FIAMD initiative aims to integrate the air and missile defence assets of member nations through unified command structures and shared early-warning infrastructure. According to the Council, the Eastern Flank Watch (EFW) initiative will encompass land, air, maritime, cyber, and additional operational domains along the eastern borders of member nations. Launched in 2025, the EDIP introduced the EDPCI framework to support joint industrial projects aimed at filling defence capability gaps that no single member state could reasonably close on its own. Chosen initiatives may draw on EDIP financing for early-stage rollout, with the possibility of additional backing through the proposed European Competitiveness Fund. Ireland's Defence Minister Helen McEntee noted that the initiatives highlight tangible cooperation among EU member states in bolstering their collective security arrangements. "In collaboration with Norway and Ukraine, the European Commission is pursuing measures to safeguard space infrastructure, airspace, maritime routes, undersea cables, and the populations that rely on them," a statement noted, adding that the Commission had opened a call for expressions of interest in February and received nine proposals in response. That month, the body submitted the five schemes endorsed by the Council, drawing on recommendations from the EU High Representative and the European Defence Agency.
