Call description
The European Defence Fund (EDF) finances defence research and development projects implemented through international cooperation. The European Defence Fund is an EU budget-funded programme that was launched in 2021. The objective of the Fund is to enhance the competitiveness, efficiency, and innovation capacity of the European defence industry and research community.
Project-specific requests for national support are to be submitted to the Ministry of Defence. Instructions and the timetable for submitting support requests will be published in spring 2026 on the Ministry of Defence’s website. The Ministry of Defence will forward the support request to Business Finland if, based on its assessment, the defence administration considers this necessary.
The 2026 EDF call will open on 11 February 2026 and will remain open for applications submitted to the European Commission until 29 September 2026. The Commission is expected to publish the results of the 2026 EDF call in April 2027.
Applicants seeking complementary national funding must submit a funding application via Business Finland’s electronic services no later than upon receiving notification that the support request has been transferred from the Ministry of Defence to Business Finland for processing.
In the Commission’s call, a Co-Funding Declaration document is required with regard to complementary national funding. A Co-Funding Declaration (CFD) is issued to all applicants who have been granted complementary national funding. If Business Finland needs to request additional information to complete the application, this may result in the CFD letter not being available in time for the EU application deadline. Any funding granted by Business Finland will be recorded in the CFD letter. The payment of the funding is conditional upon the project receiving EU funding.
Aim of the call
The objective of the projects is to achieve a significant increase in Europe’s defence capabilities and technological autonomy. The economic potential of the project results is not assessed.
Who can apply
National co-funding under the European Defence Fund is intended for Finnish start-ups, SMEs and large companies, as well as Finnish research organisations, for defence-related research and development projects. Business Finland may grant complementary funding to projects that have received EDF funding, provided that they meet the criteria for national research and development funding.