A majority of EU countries look to slash a proposed text on ramping up ammunition production in the bloc.

As reported by Euractiv, 21 member states are in favour deleting several provisions from the Act to Support Production of Ammunition (ASAP), initially proposed to increase European industry’s capacity for producing ammunition to one million shells in the next year

The interlocutor told Euractiv that the group, led by Berlin, is denouncing the EU executive's "overreach" on member states’ competencies, which they call "unnecessary," one of the EU diplomats said.

Non-supporters of this push against the Commission’s proposal are Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Malta, and Luxemburg, while Sweden, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, is considered neutral as it chairs the negotiations, several EU diplomats said.

At the heart of the debate lies whether to give the European Commission and a small group of member states permission to place priority-rated orders.

Also, these countries want to exclude from the ammunition production plan the requirement to exchange confidential information, which the European Commission would use to identify problems in logistics.

In addition, member states also wish to scrap the constraints on companies to share sensitive information with the EU executive to map out potential supply chain bottlenecks and opportunities.

The mutiny comes as EU ambassadors were expected to agree on Wednesday (14 June) on their position to start inter-institutional negotiations with the European Commission and the European Parliament, which already endorsed the text earlier this month.

In March, the Council of the European Union approved a plan to provide Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition within 12 months, which consists of three parts: the transfer of artillery shells from the EU states' stock, joint purchases from defence companies and investments in industrial capacity.

According to EU top diplomat Josep Borrell, as of now, the EU states have provided Ukraine with 220,000 artillery ammunition of various calibers and 1,300 missiles.