The European Union just fired the starting pistol on Europe’s biggest arms shake-up yet. Instead of relying on US-made weaponry, the EU wants to shop in its own backyard. A parliamentary committee vote to smash procurement barriers sets the stage for home-grown arsenal to elbow Yankee hardware off parade.
On January 27th the European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence “clearly approved“ (24:6, with six abstentions) their own inititative (2025/2143(INI)), designed to tackle barriers to the single market for defence. The vote marks the chamber’s strongest commitment yet to treating armaments as an integral part of the EU’s single market. If plenary and member states follow suit, Europe’s 27 national defence procurement systems could begin to merge into one regulated space.
The initiative addresses a longstanding ache. Brussels has prided itself on free movement of goods and services, but weapons have escaped that logic. Each government applies its own rules on procurement, licensing and certification. The result is duplication, legal uncertainty and higher costs. The draft report offers a roadmap to change all that.
Joint purchasing and modern rules
MEP Tobias Cremer (S&D/DEU) and rapporteur, framed the file as a direct response to geopolitical strains. “During this negotiation became clear that there is a growing cross-party understanding of the seriousness of the geopolitical situation that Europe currently faces. We are now in a world of great power rivalry. And in this world, we need to be able to defend ourselves and to deter aggression.”
He added that existing inefficiencies carried real costs. “We tolerate division and inefficiency, and that is why currently we are paying too high a price for the defence we need. We have inefficiencies, and that is unacceptable when families are struggling to make ends meet.”
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The report urges member states to bundle demand through joint procurement instruments. Long-term, multi-year orders would give industry the predictability it needs and drive down unit costs. It also calls for an update of the 2009 Defence Procurement Directive and full implementation of the Intra-EU Transfer Directive, measures designed to cut licence delays and clear legal bottlenecks.
Standards and supply
To guard against technical divergence, the draft proposes a Defence Standardisation Board. Its role would be to map critical sub-systems across national programmes and to agree common military certification. The report further recommends that once a component integrates into another country’s weapon system, all member states honour the corresponding export licence. That change aims to prevent holding up vital parts being by second-guessing capitals.
Rapporteur Cremer underlined the end goal. “Our objective is simple. We want to build a competitive European defence ecosystem where every euro invested delivers maximum innovation, maximum security, and maximum value for money for European citizens.”
He urged colleagues to seize the rare cross-party accord. “And for that, I hope that the Europeans can count on this cross-party agreement in this House for a single market of defence. We need it for strategic autonomy and the security of our people.”
Safeguards and oversight
Despite its single-market thrust, the text preserves national prerogatives. It retains Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which exempts contracts invoked for “vital national security interests”. Yet it urges the Council to narrow those exemptions and to publish data on any derogations granted.
The draft also suggests an annual “Single Market for Defence Scoreboard” to track member-state progress and the creation of an EU Defence Industrial Coordinator within the Commission’s defence arm, DG DEFIS.
During this negotiation became clear that there is a growing cross-party understanding of the seriousness of the geopolitical situation that Europe currently faces. — MEO Tobias Cremer (S&D/DEU)
These measures respond to concerns that a common market might turn into a cartel of big-defence producers or that smaller nations would be shut out. The scoreboard and Coordinator post are intended to ensure transparency and fair access, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Next steps and significance
With SEDE’s approval, the file moves to plenary, likely in February or March. A favourable vote there would signal to the Commission that hard law is expected, potentially prompting revisions to existing directives or new legislative proposals. Member-state governments, which guard procurement turf closely, will then decide whether to accept rules that bind them more tightly to Brussels.
Should the initiative proceed, its effects could be far-reaching. By knitting together demand and supply across 27 markets, Brussels hopes to cut duplication and industrial overheads. That might translate into faster deliveries of ammunition, radar gear and armoured vehicles. Greater interoperability could ease transfers of equipment between allies in a crisis. And by showcasing a functioning common market for defence, the EU would underline its claim to strategic autonomy—reducing, over time, the bloc’s reliance on external suppliers.
Critics warn of hidden pitfalls. Some argue that national security cannot be reduced to market mechanics, and that Brussels may overstep its powers. Others caution that small producers may lack the heft to shape new standards. Yet the unanimous sentiment in SEDE was that fragmentation has a cost and that the status quo is no longer tenable.
An EU battle plan
Europe’s armed forces now face a two-pronged challenge: to replenish stocks run low after years of underinvestment, and to modernise in the face of emerging threats. The SEDE committee judged that fixing procurement rules would ease both tasks. As Mr Cremer put it, the report “is here to really set out a roadmap towards a genuine European single market for defence, that delivers value for European taxpayers.”
The drive towards a common defence market may yet falter on national red lines. But SEDE’s clear vote marks an unmistakable signal. The committee has essentially drafted an EU battle plan for procurement reform. Whether capitals will endorse it remains to be seen. For now, the file stands as Parliament’s best shot at turning 27 siloed defence markets into one strategic asset.
