Fig14-Global Europe budget heading

Administrative and operational expenditure in the CFSP as a policy area is financed by the EU budget, with the exception of operational expenditure with military or defence implications, which cannot be funded from the EU budget. Under the 2014-2020 MFF, CFSP expenditure, as a specific item in the budget, comes under Heading 4: Global Europe, which covers all expenditure on external action, except the European Development Fund (see Figure 4). Spending under the CFSP covers only some EU foreign policy measures, namely CSDP civilian missions, EU special representatives, and measures supporting non-proliferation and disarmament. The crisis management approach of the CFSP includes involvement in all phases of the crisis cycle: from preventive strategies and crisis response to post-crisis rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as comprehensive and coordinated use of all foreign policy instruments. So far, expenditure with military or defence implications has been covered by the Athena financing mechanism. Established in 2004, it is not part of the EU budget, but its funds are based on allocations from the Member States based on their gross national income (except for Denmark, due to its CSDP opt-out). Third countries and other international organisations are also allowed to participate under specific conditions. The major types of expenditure under the Athena mechanism include lodging, travel, administration, public communication, locally hired staff, force headquarters deployment, medical services, and infrastructure, including information technology (IT) systems and information gathering. Following a special approval procedure, Athena may also finance additional equipment and services. Currently, there are six active EU military operations and all of them benefit from Athena financing.
The Global Europe heading also includes a number of additional instruments with relevance for security and defence policy, such as the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP), endowed with a budget of €1 billion over 2014-2020 and focusing on crisis management and peace building. The IcSP was amended in 2017, to allow for new funding opportunities for military capacity-building in third countries, with an extra €100 million allocated for that purpose. The amendments allow the Union to help to build the capacity of military actors in partner countries through training and mentoring, provision of non-lethal equipment and infrastructure improvements. EU funding may not be used to finance recurrent military expenditure, arms and ammunition procurement, or training that is solely designed to contribute to the fighting capacity of the armed forces.