Clifford Chance

Cutting Red Tape to Rebuild European Defence: Will the EU Defence Readiness Omnibus Deliver its Goals?

9 July 2025

The EU's plan to "Re-Arm" and build a European defence, technological and industrial base (EDTIB) fit to counter modern threats is gaining momentum.

On 17 June 2025, the European Commission published the Defence Readiness Omnibus ("the Omnibus"). This package of legislative proposals and policy guidance is designed to cut regulatory red tape for the defence sector and facilitate the investment by EU Member States of up to €800 billion in defence. The need for regulatory simplification was first identified in the White Paper for European Defence-Readiness 2030 ("Readiness 2030 White Paper)", which set out a roadmap of necessary steps Member States should take to achieve "defence readiness" by 2030.

This briefing examines key elements of the Omnibus, considers how significant the proposed changes are to existing policies/legislation and how likely they are to achieve their goals. Significantly, the unveiling of the Omnibus comes at a time of heightened geopolitical turbulence and the new commitment by NATO States to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2030.

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