Less bureaucracy for defense! - EU plans measures to speed up projects and boost production
The European Commission unveiled a series of measures it hopes will cut red tape for the defense sector and boost production.
The so-called Simplification Package includes measures that speed up permits for defense companies, facilitate cross-border movement through the supply chain, as well as guidelines to improve access to finance and to hazardous chemical substances.
This comes three months after the publication of the "Readiness 2030" plan to increase production and critical military capabilities the EU needs by the end of the decade, when intelligence agencies believe Russia could be able to attack another European country.
The proposal envisaged that up to 800 billion euros would go to the sector over the next four years, through relaxed fiscal rules and loans from the Commission through money raised on the markets.
"However, money alone is not enough if traditional bureaucracy, perhaps appropriate for peacetime, is to undermine industrial efforts to increase production," said Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space.
"We now need rules that give industry, armed forces and investors speed, predictability and scalability," he added.
One of the key proposals of the latest package is for member states to create a single point of contact for defence companies to submit requests for permits, with authorities having to respond within a 60-day timeframe.
Currently, it can take up to three or four years for defense companies to secure the various permits they need to expand their operations, with the required documentation, such as environmental impact assessments, varying from agency to agency.
Another key point of the proposal is the amendment of the Defence Procurement Directive, to facilitate joint procurement, as well as in relation to transfers of defence products within the EU.
For the latter, the Commission wants to create a single dedicated license to allow the necessary components to cross borders whenever needed, without having to apply for a new license each time. Continuous applications can delay projects by up to a year and a half. These "quick fixes can save a lot of time," the Commission official said.
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