Article 38 — Defence industrial readiness pools

1. A consortium of Member States, associated countries or Ukraine or a SEAP may establish, manage and maintain defence industrial readiness pools, and may, for that purpose, invite the EDA to provide its expertise. For the purposes of the first subparagraph, a consortium of Member States, associated countries or Ukraine shall consist of at least three of those countries, of which at least two shall be Member States. 2. Member States that establish a defence industrial readiness pool shall ensure that the establishment, management and maintenance of that pool comply with the objectives set out in Article 36(1), as well as with the objectives set out in Article 4 and, where relevant, Article 22. 3. Member States, associated countries, Ukraine and SEAPs that establish a defence industrial readiness pool shall grant all Member States, associated countries and Ukraine an immediate and preferential purchase, use or lease option for defence products that are part of that defence industrial readiness pool. 4. Where a defence industrial readiness pool is established in the context of a SEAP, the Programme or the Ukraine Support Instrument may financially support the following: (a) the common procurement of additional quantities of defence products through common procurement actions carried out by the SEAP in accordance with Article 11; (b) the establishment and the functioning of the SEAP for the purpose of managing and maintaining a defence industrial readiness pool in accordance with Article 13(1), point (g). 5. For the purpose of Member States or, where applicable, associated countries buying from the defence industrial readiness pool established, managed and maintained by a SEAP, the procurement shall be considered as a contract awarded by a government to another government as referred to in Article 13, point (f), of Directive 2009/81/EC.