EU: Defence Readiness Omnibus is published in the Official Journal of the EU

The EU's Defence Readiness Omnibus (Omnibus V) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 4 November 2026 and enters into force on 23 November. The package lands at a time of sharp growth in EU defence spending. According to Council of the EU, EU Member States' defence expenditure is expected to reach an estimated EUR 454 billion in 2026, a 75.3% increase from 2021.

What has been adopted

Omnibus V consists of three legislative acts:

• Regulation on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects (“Acceleration of Permitting Regulation”) compresses national permit-granting procedures for defence readiness projects; 

• Regulation on defence readiness and facilitating defence investments and conditions for the defence industry (“Defence Readiness Regulation”) streamlines the European Defence Fund (EDF) and makes changes to the key chemicals regulations so that Member States can carve out defence readiness uses more generously; and

• Directive on the simplification of intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and the simplification of security and defence procurement (“Transfers and Procurement Directive”) amends the EU framework for intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and for defence and security procurement.

Acceleration of Permitting Regulation

Scope and purpose

This Regulation establishes common EU rules for the acceleration of permit-granting processes for defence readiness projects. A "defence readiness project" is a set of activities, investments and measures aimed at enhancing the defence readiness of one or more Member States, including through the development or modernisation of the defence industry. The "defence industry" is defined by reference to companies engaged in the research, development, production, manufacture or supply of defence-related products as defined in the Defence Transfers Directive, or in services directly related to those products throughout their lifecycle.

The scope of the permit-granting process is broad. It covers all relevant permits, approvals or licences necessary to build, expand, convert and operate defence readiness projects, or to repurpose any installation, equipment or activity into a defence readiness project. It runs from confirmation that the application is complete to notification of the comprehensive decision. Member States determine which projects qualify as defence readiness projects under the Regulation.

Single point of contact

Each Member State must establish or designate a single point of contact within three months of the Regulation entering into force. The single point of contact acts as the sole interface for a defence readiness project. 

Project promoters must be able to submit documents electronically. The single point of contact must also provide tailored guidance and early advisory services to SMEs, mid-caps and small mid-cap enterprises, in recognition of the relatively higher compliance costs these actors face.

Timelines: 42 working days, with a 102-day outer limit

The permit-granting process may not exceed 42 working days from the date on which the single point of contact notifies the project promoter that it has received a complete permit application.

The clock does not start immediately on submission of the application. The single point of contact has 14 working days to confirm whether the Regulation applies and whether the application is complete. A single further request for missing information is possible, and if needed a second and final request within 10 working days of the second submission. If the application remains incomplete, the process is terminated.

The competent authority may extend the 42-working-day deadline twice, up to a maximum of 60 additional working days, on a case-by-case basis. The extension is available where:

• the exceptional nature, complexity, location or size of the project so requires; or

• the project raises exceptional risks to the health and safety of workers or the general population, or an exceptional environmental risk, and additional time is necessary to assess those risks.

The total duration of the permit-granting process may not exceed 102 working days.

“Deemed approval”

If the single point of contact fails to notify the project promoter of the outcome within the applicable deadline, the permits covered by the application are deemed to be granted. The single point of contact must then inform the project promoter within eight working days from expiry of the deadline. It must also specify, where relevant, the conditions and requirements to which those permits are subject under EU or national law. However, as affected parties must be able to challenge permits deemed to be granted, project promoters are advised to comply with national and European environmental laws in any case to prevent administrative orders restricting project realization.

Within 12 months after the Regulation enters into force, Member States may provide, in national law, that in strictly limited and exceptional cases, “deemed approval” does not apply. This derogation applies only on a case-by-case basis, where the competent authority can demonstrate that the specific project raises a grave risk to human health or national security. It must be notified to the Commission at least one month before application and justified in detailed, evidence-based terms before the deadline expires.

Environmental and procedural safeguards

The Regulation’s recitals confirm that it does not undermine any obligations under other relevant EU legislation. Compliance with EU law on waste management and on the protection of water, air, ecosystems, habitats, archaeological sites and biodiversity remains integral to permit-granting procedures, including for defence readiness projects. 

Where plans provide for defence readiness projects and their required infrastructure and require environmental assessments under the Habitats Directive and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive, those assessments must be combined. Combining assessments must not affect their content or quality, nor extend the Regulation's deadlines.

Defence readiness projects can, where applicable, benefit from existing EU law derogations on grounds of overriding public interest, public safety or in response to a crisis. Administrative, judicial and dispute-resolution proceedings relating to defence readiness projects must be treated as urgent, to the extent that national law provides for urgency procedures.

Application, monitoring and review

The Regulation applies to permit applications for defence readiness projects submitted from three months after entry into force.

Member States must submit annual statistical reports to the Commission on the application of the Regulation. The Commission will carry out a first evaluation by 31 December 2028, and every four years thereafter. 

Defence Readiness Regulation

This Regulation simplifies the management and implementation of the European Defence Fund (EDF). In particular, it changes the administrative requirements for applications and increases support to SMEs. It also preserves the possibility for European public bodies, such as the European Defence Agency, to function as central purchasing bodies.

The Regulation also broadens the defence exemptions under three key EU chemicals regimes: REACH, the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation and the Biocidal Products Regulation. These regulate chemicals and biocidal products across the EU . 

REACH already permitted Member States to exempt substances from the Regulation "in specific cases" where necessary in the interests of defence. However, there are indications that some Member States had not fully used the flexibility available under REACH, and the Regulation removes the reference to "specific cases". The result is more flexibility for Member States.

Equivalent amendments are made to the CLP Regulation and the Biocidal Products Regulation. Member States now have greater flexibility to grant exemptions under these regimes where necessary in the interests of defence. The recitals emphasise that exemptions must be justified as necessary and that defence needs must be balanced with a high level of protection of health and the environment.

The Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation implements the international Stockholm Convention, which limits the scope for exemptions once a substance is listed. The amendments therefore focus on the preparatory stages before the listing of further substances in the Stockholm Convention. The Commission and Member States must duly take into account defence readiness and the specificities of the defence sector (including impacts on defence production supply chains) when undertaking risk-management evaluations in the course of a review process. It also allows Member States to exempt sensitive information from reporting obligations where necessary to protect national or EU defence interests, provided this does not undermine applicable reporting obligations under the Stockholm Convention.

Directive on intra-EU transfers and defence and security procurement

The Directive aims to remove administrative delays in security and defence procurement and facilitate transfers of defence-related products within the EU. It makes the following targeted changes:

• increases the thresholds in the defence procurement directive;

• introduces the possibility of occasional joint procurement, a de minimis rule for contract modifications and enhanced flexibility in framework agreements; and

• introduces two new mandatory general transfer licences: one for transfers between certified suppliers and certified recipients, and one for transfers in the framework of an intra-EU industrial partnership. 

The Directive must be transposed by the Member States by 24 November 2027, with the measures to be applied from 24 February 2028.

Further information

• Simplification of EU Chemicals Regulation – Defence Readiness Omnibus and Chemicals Industry Action

• EU: sustainable finance and environmental elements of the Defence Readiness Omnibus

• The new rules of engagement: ESG in defence investment