EU Council approves DECODER, a joint drone and counter-drone programme, among five priority defence projects

TLDR

• The Council of the European Union approved five European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCIs) on 28 September, making them eligible for EU funding under the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP).¹²
• One of the five, DECODER, is a joint drone and counter-drone programme meant to help member states build, scale up, and deploy unmanned aircraft and counter-drone technology.²
• The other four cover maritime and seabed defence, space assets including missile-launch warning satellites, integrated air and missile defence, and security along the EU's eastern border.¹
• The five projects together carry an "envisaged funding ambition" of around EUR 190 billion by 2036, according to EU official Andrius Kubilius.¹
• No funding has actually been awarded yet; approval only makes the projects eligible, with initial deployment support expected via EDIP and further backing possible from a planned European Competitiveness Fund.¹

The Council of the European Union has formally approved five joint defence projects for EU funding eligibility, including DECODER, a programme aimed at expanding drone and counter-drone capabilities across member states.¹² The approval, reported 28 September, follows a European Commission proposal made on 3 July, itself drawn from nine submissions received after a February call for expressions of interest.¹

DECODER is designed to help EU states "build, scale up, and deploy" both drones and counter-drone systems, according to Unmanned Airspace's reporting on the Council decision.² The other four approved European Defence Projects of Common Interest cover integrated maritime and seabed defence, a space-focused project spanning missile-launch warning satellites and surveillance, an EU-wide air and missile defence network with early warning, and an "Eastern Flank Watch" project covering land, air, sea and cyber security along the bloc's eastern border.¹

Combined, the five projects carry an "envisaged funding ambition" of roughly EUR 190 billion by 2036, EU official Andrius Kubilius said in a statement cited in the reporting.¹ Approval makes the projects eligible for funding under the European Defence Industry Programme, adopted in 2025 to support initiatives EU officials describe as "too large or too complex for individual countries to develop on their own"; further backing may come later from a planned European Competitiveness Fund.¹ Ireland's Defence Minister Helen McEntee said the projects reflect "practical cooperation between EU member states," pointing to collaboration with Norway and Ukraine to protect "space, our skies, our seas, undersea cables and our citizens."¹

Why it matters: it is the first time drone and counter-drone capability has been named as one of the EU's own priority joint-defence programmes rather than left to individual member states or NATO, positioning DECODER as a funding vehicle other counter-UAS efforts across the bloc could eventually draw on.