Negotiators on Tuesday managed to strike deals on two of the three proposals to accelerate Europe’s defence industry ramp-up with swifter permitting for new defence production facilities.
The files are part of the defence readiness package presented last year by the European Commission to reduce bureaucracy and unlock €800 billion in investment in the defence sector by the end of the decade.
An agreement was first reached on the third file in late afternoon, after the two previous files had initially failed. The third concerns a partial rollback of environmental and chemical regulation for the defence industry, as well as easier access for small enterprises to EU defence funding.
The European Defence Fund (EDF) will also be allowed to cover the costs of testing in Ukraine and defence projects developed jointly with Ukraine under the deal, reached after more than 24 hours of marathon talks.
“The Defence Omnibus is, in fact, a much-needed reality check for Europe’s defence…
