BRUSSELS -- Ministers from the European Union (EU) countries on Tuesday approved the creation of a 150-billion-euro ($170.22 billion) arms fund, the bloc's first large-scale defence investment program at EU level, the Council of the EU said in a press release.

The fund will be channelled through the new Security Action for Europe instrument, which offers competitively priced, long-maturity loans to member states that choose to invest in defence industrial production via joint procurement of priority capabilities, the Council said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, proposed the fund in March as an essential part of its ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 package, which aims to leverage over 800 billion euros in defence spending to bolster European security and defence cooperation. (1 euro = 1.13 US dollar)