The EU seeks to slash red tape for defence as money 'is not enough'

The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a series of measures it hopes will slash red tape for the defence sector and get it to start significantly boosting production.
The so-called Simplification Omnibus includes measures to fast-track permitting for defence companies, facilitate cross-border movement through the supply chain, as well as guidance to improve access to finance and to dangerous chemical substances.
It comes three months after the release of the 'Readiness 2030' plan to increase the production and deployment of critical military capabilities the EU needs by 2030 when intelligence agencies believe Russia could be in shape to attack another European country.
The proposal planned for up to €800 billion to be poured into the sector over the coming four years through relaxed fiscal rules and loans from the Commission of money raised on the markets.
"Money alone, however, is not enough, if traditional 'red tape', which maybe is fit for peacetime, will kill industrial efforts to ramp-up production," Andrius Kubilius, the Commissioner for Defence and Space told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
"Now we need rules that give industry, armed forces and investors speed, predictability and scale," he added.
One of the flagship proposals of the latest package is for member states to create a single point of contact for defence companies to submit permit requests, with authorities urged to respond within a 60-day timeframe.
Currently, it can take up to three or four years for defence companies to secure the various permits they need to expand their operations, with the required paperwork, such as environment impact assessments, different from agency to agency.
Environmental NGOs, among other citizen groups, may well have a problem with that fast-track approach. "What we also indicate is that whenever there are subsequent litigation or claims - being administrative or judicial - they should also be treated as a priority according to the law," the Commission official said when quizzed on potential legal challenges.
Another key plank of the proposal is to amend the Defence Procurement directive - to facilitate joint procurements - and the directive on Intra-EU transfers of defence products.
For the latter, the Commission seeks to create a single dedicated licence to allow components necessary for the production of a defence investment project to cross borders as many times as necessary without applying for a new licence each time - a process that can currently delay projects by up to one and a half years.
These "quick fixes", the Commission official said, can "save a lot of time".
How "quick" they will be will however depend on European lawmakers and member states who will have to negotiate and approve the amendments, as well as the new legislation foreseen in the package.
Other elements seek to clarify which environmental and health and safety derogations can be applied to the defence sector and which parts of the sector investors may safely pour money into while respecting the bloc's environmental, social and governance (ESG) rules.
Chemicals are a critical part of weapons production, especially ammunition, but the use of many chemicals is restricted in the EU under its REACH legislation to protect human health and the environment from the risks they carry. A proposal to further restrict the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) on specific sectors is currently also being examined by the EU.
As such, member states have different rules on their use depending on the type of substance, the manufacturing purpose and how much is required with licences often granted on a case-by-case basis.
The Commission's upcoming guidelines will therefore aim to highlight that REACH includes a derogation that would allow member states to approve, at the national level, the use of certain chemicals citing the need to boost defence readiness production or activities.
This was a core ask from the industry.
"If we have to replace these substances immediately, we won't have a way of manufacturing things," Micael Johansson, the CEO of Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab and president of the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) told Euronews last week.
"We have to make decisions on what's most important now for manufacturing so maybe we need some sort of exemptions from that in this crisis situation where we have to build things," he added.
Another set of guidelines will seek to reassure financial institutions that they will not be penalised for pouring money into the sector by clarifying that "the Union's sustainable finance framework does not impose any limitations on the financing of the defence sector," Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commissioner for Trade, told reporters.
The guidance will indicate that defence investments "can contribute to the stability and security and peace in Europe", the official speaking on condition of anonymity said, and that only prohibited weapons are strictly off-limits.
The Commission expects 'the cost-saving of the simplification of procedures to be major', the official also said, although an estimate is not expected to be released until later in the summer.
The European Commission published a new legislative proposal on Tuesday on how the bloc must phase out Russian oil and gas by 2027.
The proposal outlines the deadlines and strategies for EU countries to progressively reduce, and ultimately end, their reliance on Russia as a fuel supplier, as part of the REpowerEU Plan.
The proposal does not address nuclear energy, with a senior European Commission official telling journalists that that would be addressed separately.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has progressively reduced the trade of oil, gas and nuclear material from Russia.
As of 2024, the EU still relied on Russian imports for 19% of its gas and 3% of its crude oil supply.
"Russia has repeatedly attempted to blackmail us by weaponising its energy supplies. We have taken clear steps to turn off the tap and end the era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe for good," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said.
Under the draft rules, new contracts for Russian gas will be banned starting 1 January 2026. Existing short-term contracts must end by 17 June 2026, with limited exceptions for landlocked countries tied to long-term agreements, which will be allowed until the end of 2027.
Long-term contracts for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal services involving Russian companies will also be prohibited, freeing up infrastructure for alternative suppliers.
EU countries will be required to submit detailed diversification plans outlining specific steps and milestones to replace Russian energy imports.
In a meeting between EU ministers for energy on Monday, Hungary and Slovakia expressed their disagreements with the plan.
"Energy policy is a national competence and this endangers our sovereignty and energy security. Given the Middle East escalation, we proposed no such plan be tabled at all," Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote in a post on X.
Despite this opposition, the European Commission decided to move forward with the text.
The Danish government, which will take over the presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July, wants to reach a political agreement on the text as soon as possible.
Lars Aagaard, Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, told journalists on Monday that the Danish presidency will make an effort to "reach [political approval] as fast as possible," adding: "If we succeed in concluding [the legislation] before New Year, I think that we have done a tremendous job."
The legislation will follow the standard procedure. The co-legislators, namely the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, will negotiate their own position on the file.
Afterwards, the text will enter inter-institutional negotiations, the so-called trilogue, to find a political agreement.
EU member states in the Council will need a qualified majority to approve the proposal on their side.
This reinforced majority requires the support of at least 15 of the 27 member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population.
The European Parliament will vote on the proposal by a simple majority vote.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

LeMonde

23 minutes ago

• LeMonde

The French government is stepping in to rescue Eutelsat

On Friday, June 20, President Emmanuel Macron is expected at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget and aims to make the event a turning point for France and Europe's space strategy. "We are witnessing a dramatic acceleration of the space sector" that "is being privatized at breakneck speed with extremely ambitious projects, especially from the Americans, but also from Chinese players." It is also "becoming militarized very, very quickly," explained an Élysée adviser ahead of the president's midday speech from the "Paris Space Hub" – the Le Bourget hall devoted entirely to the sector. The war in Ukraine has highlighted Europe's dependence on Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite communications network. "Europe needs to "act independently, not be dependent on external solutions," the Élysée acknowledged. In this context, the government announced on June 19 that it would strengthen the state's stake in Eutelsat, the French satellite operator whose low-Earth orbit constellation is, for now, the only viable European alternative to Starlink. To achieve this, France's State Participation Agency (APE, the government's shareholdings agency) will take a major share in Eutelsat's €1.35 billion capital increase; the APE alone will contribute €717 million. At the same time, it will purchase the 13.6% stake currently held by Bpifrance, bringing its total holding to 29.9% – just below the threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover bid for the entire company.

Euronews

2 hours ago

• Euronews

Meeting between top EU diplomats and Iran's FM yields hope of talks

A meeting between top European diplomats and Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, on Friday yielded hopes of further talks but no indication of any immediate or concrete breakthrough, a week after Israel attacked Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, erupting into war between both sides. Foreign ministers from Britain, France, and Germany and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, emerged from the talks at a Geneva hotel nearly four hours after Iran's Araghchi arrived for the meeting. It was the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict. In a joint written statement issued after the talks ended, the three European nations and the EU said that they 'discussed avenues towards a negotiated solution to Iran's nuclear programme.' They reiterated their concerns about the 'expansion' of the nuclear program, adding that it has 'no credible civilian purpose.' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, 'We agreed that we will discuss nuclear but also broader issues that we have and keep the discussions open." 'The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is fundamentally ready to continue talking about all important issues,' German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, adding both sides had held 'very serious talks.' While France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters, military operations can slow Iran's nuclear program, but in no way can they eliminate it. 'We know well—after having seen what happened in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Libya—how illusory and dangerous it is to want to impose regime change from outside.' Barrot also said that European nations 'invited the Iranian minister to envisage negotiations with all parties, including the United States, and without waiting for the end of the strikes." However promising, Iran ruled out new nuclear talks until attacks from Israel stop. According to Araghchi, Iran was ready to consider diplomacy only if Israel's "aggression is stopped." "I make it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are non-negotiable," the Iranian foreign minister stressed after the Geneva talks. He expressed support for 'a continuation of discussions with the E3 and the EU and expressed his readiness to meet again in the near future.' He also denounced Israel's attacks against nuclear facilities in Iran and expressed 'grave concern' about what he called 'non-condemnation' by European nations. For his part, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Tehran to continue its talks with the United States. Lammy said, 'We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States.' He added that 'we were clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.' He added there is 'a window of within two weeks where we can see a diplomatic solution' and urged Iran 'to take that off-ramp.' Trump delays decision Meanwhile, it remains unclear how that will happen as US President Donald Trump continues to weigh whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America's 'bunker-buster' bombs. Trump said on Wednesday that he'll decide within two weeks whether the US military will get directly involved in the war, given the 'substantial chance' for renewed negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program. Israel says it launched its airstrike campaign to stop Iran from getting closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. Iran and the United States had been negotiating over the possibility of a new diplomatic deal over Tehran's programme, though Trump has said Israel's campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks. 'We are entitled … to defend our territorial integrity' - Iran In light of the possibility of US involvement, Iran's supreme leader rejected Trump's calls for surrender Wednesday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause 'irreparable damage to them.' Just before meeting the European diplomats on Friday, Foreign Minister Araghchi made a brief appearance before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, telling the council that Israel's 'attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes'. Araghchi insisted that Iran is "entitled … and determined to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty, and security with all force.' Tehran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, though it was the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The initial 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers was negotiated in large part by the three European nations. However, Iran has been found wanting in its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, leading to warnings by the EU states to reimpose sanctions that were suspended under the agreement.

France 24

5 hours ago

• France 24

Trump says two weeks is 'maximum' for Iran decision

Trump added that Iran "doesn't want to talk to Europe," dismissing the chance of success in talks between European powers and Iran in Geneva on resolving the conflict between Israel and Iran. Trump also played down the possibility of asking Israel to halt its attacks, after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would not resume talks with the United States until Israel relented. "I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," Trump told reporters when asked if he could decide to strike Iran before that. He added that the aim was to "see whether or not people come to their senses." Trump had said in a statement on Thursday that he would "make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks" because there was a "substantial chance of negotiations" with Iran. Those comments had been widely seen as opening a two-week window for negotiations to end the war between Israel and Iran, with the European powers rushing to talks with Tehran. But his latest remarks indicated that Trump could still make his decision before that if he feels that there has been no progress towards dismantling Iran's nuclear program. Trump dismissed the chances of Europe making a difference, saying the talks between Britain, France, Germany and EU diplomats and Tehran's foreign minister "didn't help." "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this," Trump told reporters as he arrived in Morristown, New Jersey. Asked if he would ask Israel to stop its attacks as Iran had asked, Trump said it was "very hard to make that request right now." "If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens."