European Parliament and Council negotiators have reached a provisional agreement on a package of measures intended to accelerate defence investment and speed up permits for defence-related projects across the EU.
Part of the so-called “Omnibus V” simplification measures, the package is designed to support up to €800 billion of defence investment over the next four years under the ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030 initiative. It aims to shorten permitting, ease intra-EU transfers of defence products, simplify procurement and streamline the European Defence Fund (EDF).
On permits for projects such as new or expanded factories, the co-legislators agreed an EU-wide default decision period of 42 working days, extendable in exceptional cases by up to two further periods of 60 days, with a hard ceiling of 102 working days. Where authorities miss the deadline, a principle of tacit approval would apply. Member states would set up single points of contact for project promoters, with digital tracking and annual reporting.
The deal introduces a new general transfer licence to make it easier for defence firms to operate across borders, raises the thresholds at which EU procurement rules apply, and extends the maximum length of framework agreements from seven to ten years. The EDF rules were also simplified, with additional support for small and medium-sized enterprises and eligibility for testing costs in candidate country Ukraine. Exemptions from EU environmental and chemical rules for defence would be allowed only where justified.
Several of the rapporteurs steering the files come from Baltic Sea states, including Sven Mikser (Estonia), Pekka Toveri and Anna-Maja Henriksson (Finland) and Henrik Dahl (Denmark) — a region where defence readiness and the protection of critical infrastructure have moved up the agenda. The provisional agreements still need formal adoption by Parliament and Council before they can enter into force.
