We're talking about this in the context of PPP versus nominal GDP when buying military equipment. Most countries _have_ to buy at nominal prices cos they either don't have a domestic arms industry, or they have one, which uses resources bought at nominal, global prices.
But the EU has both a domestic arms industry _and_ the inputs locally, so it's probably cheaper to go the domestic route, hence they can buy at PPP rates rather than nominal.
But the EU has both a domestic arms industry _and_ the inputs locally, so it's probably cheaper to go the domestic route, hence they can buy at PPP rates rather than nominal.