EU member states and European Parliament negotiators have reached a provisional deal on a package of laws intended to simplify defence-related procurement rules, speed up permits and make it easier to invest in the EU defence industry.
The agreement was struck by the Council of the EU presidency and Parliament negotiators and covers changes designed to reduce administrative delays in areas including procurement, permitting, reporting and cross-border cooperation, the Council informed on Wednesday.
Marilena Raouna, Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for European Affairs, said the deal would simplify rules for defence-related projects and provide greater support to Europe’s defence industry.
The provisional text also changes how the European Defence Fund (EDF) — an EU funding programme for joint defence research and development — is managed and applied, including simpler administrative requirements for applications, the Council noted.
It added that the deal includes additional incentives to increase the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in EDF projects, including a higher funding-rate bonus for projects that involve SMEs.
It also keeps the option for European public bodies, including the European Defence Agency, to act as central purchasing bodies, and preserves access rights for member states that co-finance EDF projects while protecting participating companies’ intellectual property.
Faster permits and easier cross-border transfers
A new framework to accelerate permit-granting for defence readiness projects would set a maximum time limit of 102 working days for the permitting process, the Council said.
Under the deal, a permit request would be treated as approved if a competent authority does not decide before the deadline, though national law could still allow exceptions where there is a grave risk to human health or national security.
On procurement and the movement of defence-related products within the EU, the agreement raises thresholds in the defence procurement directive, which the Council said would reduce administrative workload and allow authorities to focus on larger projects.
It also introduces the option of occasional joint procurement, a “de minimis” rule for contract modifications — meaning minor changes would be treated differently — and more flexibility in framework agreements.
The deal also adds two new mandatory general transfer licences: one for transfers between certified suppliers and certified recipients, and another for transfers carried out through an intra-EU industrial partnership, the Council said.
The provisional agreement must now be endorsed by both the Council and the European Parliament and will then undergo legal and linguistic revision before formal adoption in the coming months.
