‘Europe cannot afford bureaucratic paralysis’: EU strikes defence simplification deal

Facing Russian aggression and US retreat, the EU is planning to streamline permits, cut bureaucracy and make defence procurement and transfers across member states easier. A package of measures aimed at accelerating defence investment and improving defence responsiveness to security challenges across the European Union was approved by European Parliament and European Council negotiators on Wednesday. Representing the 27 EU member states on behalf of the Cypriot presidency of the EU Council, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for European Affairs Marilena Raouna said rubber-stamping the “Defence Readiness Omnibus” is important for the continent's security and competitiveness. “For a strategically autonomous Europe, defence readiness and competitiveness must go hand in hand,” Raouna said in a statement provided to Euronews. The deal comes as the EU aims to ramp up defence production and readiness to confront foreign threats, including from Russia, whose full-scale invasion of Ukraine is increasingly spilling beyond Ukraine's borders, with errant drones from both sides of the conflict straying into European airspace. Europe’s defence challenges are only being exacerbated by the the US's retreat from European security guarantees that have been in place since the Second World War, and the twin threat of Russian aggression and US withdrawal from Europe has created an opportunity for the bloc to meet its own security needs. Under the new rules, permits for the construction of new defence production facilities or their expansion must be granted within 42 working days. There will be a single point of contact for defence project promoters, and EU governments will need to slash red tape for the ease of intra-EU transfers of defence products. European People’s Party MEP Henrik Dahl, a co-rapporteur of a report on easing permitting procedures, said the agreement is an important first step towards strengthening Europe. “Europe cannot afford bureaucratic paralysis while our security environment deteriorates,” he explained. MEP Anna-Maja Henriksson of Renew Europe, a co-rapporteur on the simplification of intra-EU transfers and procurement simplification report, took a similar line. “It is crucial to strengthen Europe’s defence now, as Russia will remain a threat in the future," she said. "Therefore, we must ensure that defence procurement and internal transfers of defence products within the EU can be carried out as quickly and as smoothly as possible." The agreement now needs to be ratified by the 27 EU heads of state, as well as the European Parliament.