The European Union has formally adopted legislation allowing civilian EU funding programmes to be used for defence and military projects, turning last month’s political agreement on the so-called Mini-Omnibus into binding law.

The regulation, approved by EU ministers, amends five major budget programmes — Horizon Europe, the European Defence Fund (EDF), Digital Europe, the Connecting Europe Facility and STEP — to simplify access for defence-related and dual-use projects.

The adoption gives legal effect to reforms provisionally agreed by the European Parliament and Council in November, which redirect existing EU funds into defence without increasing the bloc’s overall budget.

Under the new rules, programmes previously reserved for civilian research, infrastructure and technology can now finance military projects, provided they meet EU eligibility and security requirements.

The legislation also formally associates Ukraine with the €7.3bn European Defence Fund, allowing Ukrainian defence firms to participate in EU-funded collaborative research alongside European partners.

EU officials say the changes aim to accelerate industrial capacity growth by using existing funding channels, avoiding lengthy negotiations over new defence budgets while supporting the bloc’s broader rearmament plans through 2030.

The revised funding rules will be applied in 2026.