| YOUR OMNIBUS GUIDE. The Commission unveiled its long-awaited defence omnibus on Tuesday that promised to slash regulations and ease the EU’s defence industry expansion. The Commission plans to negotiate three substantial changes to EU defence and environmental regulations: New permitting regulations that'd designate a single authority in each EU country to handle permit requests from defence companies and set a 60 day deadline for decisions; possible exceptions for the sector from some EU environmental regulations long requested by industry; and reworked EU defence procurement rules to cut paperwork on contracts worth less than €900,000.
Those changes still need to be worked out with EU capitals and the Parliament, but the Commission has already pledged more changes to come as part of a “fully-fledged review” of the procurement directive in 2026. The Commission also sought to clarify sustainable investment guidelines to boost the defence sector (with a notice and a revised list of “controversial weapons”), and modified rules of access to the InvestEU fund to channel more investments into the defence sector.
EDIP FINALE. After more than a year of deadlock and drama, the Commission’s cornerstone plan for revamping the European armaments industry will get the official endorsement from EU ambassadors on Monday, according to two diplomatic sources close to the file. France has been battling to freeze non-European defence firms with factories in Europe out the programme. The final text, seen by Euractiv, strikes a compromise that largely keeps strict eligibility rules favouring EU contractors in the programme, but adds exemptions for foreign ammunition and missile manufacturers under certain conditions.
That’s not enough flexibility for 10 EU countries, who argued in a joint letter that “the EU defence industry still depends on critical components, technologies and know-how from like-minded third countries, in particular transatlantic allies”. The dissenters, however, aren’t expected to derail final approval, and negotiations with the Parliament are set to start next month.
EUCO CONCLUSIONS. Leaked early draft conclusions for next week’s European Council meeting include calls for “rapid progress” on the new defence omnibus, coordination among EU countries to implement commitments made at the NATO summit.
EU INNOVATION FUND UNCHANGED? The Commission’s widely anticipated mid-term review of the EDF, the main EU programme for supporting defence industry R&D, didn’t give a clear idea of how it might evolve under the EU’s next seven-year budget, which starts in 2028. The Commission acknowledged the defence industry’s key concerns – uncertainty around purchases of products developed under the programme and the unreliability of EU countries as co-financers – but didn’t say how to resolve them. It doesn’t at all address several other ideas that have been floating around the Brussels defence bubble over the past two years, such as revamping the list of subsidies to focus on large-scale projects or prioritising direct awards over competition among the industry.
BOEING’s EUROPEAN ENGAGEMENT. Steve Parker, the interim CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, told a small group of journalists (including Firepower) at the Paris Air Show that the American aerospace giant is interested in more deeply integrating with European military customers – including potentially handing over design authority for certain products. Parker said the Boeing Defence Australia team has the design authority for its MQ28 drone, and the “same model can be replicated” with Europe. “We are right there with [the Europeans] to help develop their own indigenous sovereign capability,” he said.
Boeing isn’t alone among American defence contractors eager to hold onto European customers by accommodating their push for a bit more defence autonomy from the US. A top executive from Raytheon, maker of Patriot missiles, told Euractiv they’re increasing their production thanks to a growing presence in Europe – and Lockheed Martin is pursuing a similar strategy.
LATEST FCAS TROUBLES. The FCAS next-generation fighter jet project backed by France, Germany and Spain continues to hit turbulence with ongoing design disagreements between Airbus and Dassault, the project’s two primary aerospace firms. Soon after Dassault’s boss asserted his firm’s leadership position in an interview, Airbus’ head of air power, Jean-Brice Dumont acknowledged that “there are difficulties in the execution” of the design phase. The project has long struggled with competing requirements from the participating countries. France would like the jet to be able to carry French nuclear weapons and land on aircraft carriers, while Germany has little need for naval capability. | 