EU member states have backed plans to begin talks with the European Parliament on a new €115 million defence innovation programme called AGILE.
National representatives meeting in Coreper — a committee of member states’ permanent representatives in Brussels — approved the Council’s negotiating mandate for the proposed scheme, the Council of the EU announced on Wednesday.
AGILE would provide targeted financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises, including start-ups and scale-ups, with a focus on developing and testing “emerging and disruptive” defence products.
It would also support adapting civilian technologies for defence use.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine as well as the conflicts in the EU’s southern neighbourhood has made clear that rapid technological innovation can be decisive on the battlefield,” Cyprus defence minister Vasilis Palmas said in a statement published by the Council of the EU.
Timeline and what happens next
The European Commission’s proposal envisages a four-month “time-to-grant” — the period between a call for proposals and the award of funding — and expects supported products and technologies to reach defence forces within one to three years, the Council said.
The Council’s negotiating position keeps the main features of the Commission plan, while increasing the ways member states can be involved during implementation through EU committee procedures known as “comitology.”
Inter-institutional negotiations are expected to start once the European Parliament has finalised its position, according to the Council, which said the programme is expected to be operational from early 2027.
