Changes from plenary report to adopted text

12. Considers, in this regard, that all options should be explored to support Member States’ defence investment, in particular through existing mechanisms, without increasing national contributions or the overall tax burden on citizens; stresses that such instruments must not rely solely on the issuance of EU-backed loans, for instance through SAFE;

13. Stresses that EU funding should complement, and not replace, the efforts of Member States to increase their national defence spending; underlines that EU instruments should provide added value by fostering cooperation, interoperability and efficiency, while capability planning and requirements must remain within the appropriate institutional frameworks; reiterates that, in order to meet urgent CSDP needs, additional resources for defence priorities must be secured; reiterates, therefore, its call on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the EU is equipped to cover its overall higher spending needs, including through the adoption of new own resources;

14. Recalls that the EIB’s objective is to foster EU integration, promote the development of the EU and support EU policies in line with Article 309 TFEU; welcomes the EIB’s proactive approach in stepping up financing for European security and defence; takes notes, however, of the fact that its investment policy still excludes ‘arms and munitions’ and that its interventions so far have been insufficient in speed, risk appetite and scale to meet urgent defence readiness needs; takes note of the progress made in opening up its criteria, but considers that these remain insufficient to achieve the goals of Defence Readiness 2030 as expressed by industry stakeholders through studies and public consultations; calls, in the interests of consistency with the ReArm Europe plan, on the Member States, as governing body of the EIB, to adapt the EIB’s mandate in order to strengthen its capacity to support the European defence industry and to revise its investment guidelines so as to allow financing for legitimate arms and munitions projects that are in line with international law and the EU’s security interests; calls for the EIB Group to increase its risk appetite and ambition to achieve the crowding-in of investment; warns, however, that any adjustment to the EIB Group’s eligibility criteria or funding to align with new priorities must safeguard the EIB Group’s financial position and ensure effective financing of other strategic EU priorities; calls on the EIB to conduct, and provide Parliament with, a thorough quantitative assessment of its investor policy on defence investment, without, where applicable, compromising its confidentiality agreements with its investors;

15. Suggests that the EIB should continuously reflect on and evaluate its role, as well as the scope of eligible investments, in the light of the pressing need to scale up the European defence sector and ensure long-term security and strategic autonomy; suggests formally extending the EIB’s mandate to include support for the EDTIB within a specialised subsidiary, backed by Commission guarantees and supported by a network of experts; believes that such a structure would be a more effective solution than the creation of a new defence, security and resilience bank;

16. Stresses the importance of improving the accessibility and consistency of EU investment support funds for EDTIB companies, in particular start-ups and SMEs, by progressively adjusting and tailoring eligibility criteria with regard to the ambition laid out in EDIS and EDIP, simplifying application procedures and harmonising the objectives of work programmes; highlights the importance of adjusting the timelines and requirements of such funds to the different innovation cycles and paces of different types of capability domains; calls on Member States and regions to strengthen the role of their chambers of commerce and industry in supporting SMEs in the EDTIB in their research and in gaining access to EU funding;

17. Calls on the Commission to provide clear guidance and templates on new types of agreements, coordination and co-deployment among competitors in the defence sector, in order to facilitate stronger R&D investment by EDTIB companies;

18. Calls for the development of an instrument to support public and private investment in defence on the basis of guarantees from the EU budget, following the example of InvestEU; welcomes, in the short term, the Commission proposal for a delegated act to the InvestEU Fund investment guidelines on strategic investments in the field of defence, which calls for the removal of unnecessary administrative burdens in relation to the use of budgetary guarantees and financial instruments to support defence investment, thereby offering additional simplification while respecting the need to protect the security of the EU and the Member States; considers that, taken together, these measures would ensure both the rapid mobilisation of financing and the establishment of a stable and scalable investment framework for the European defence industry;

19. Considers the deployment of banking funds in loans, guarantees and high-quality liquidity portfolios to be essential for long-term maturities in defence spending that will provide predictability and stability; reiterates that accelerating the completion of the SIU would help mobilise private capital and improve access to financing;

Removing disincentives to private investment in defence

Simplifying access to short-term finance for EDTIB companies

20. Calls on the EU Payment Observatory to carry out a study on compliance with payment deadlines in the EDTIB compared to other branches of industry, and to rank the most rigorous companies in this regard;

21. Calls on the EIB, with the support of Member States, to achieve a figure of EUR 4 billion for short-term loans with risk guarantees of up to 50 %, and calls for the relaxation and simplification of the EIB’s defence commitment criteria, as well as the extension of eligibility to indirect subcontractors;

Increasing the capacity of private investors to finance defence by ensuring compatibility with sustainable financing

22. Notes that, despite the efforts made since the start of the war in Ukraine, many investors remain reluctant to finance defence, including owing to uncertainties about the application of environmental, social and governance standards, and that the EDTIB remains discriminated against in the financial markets on the grounds of an erroneously perceived risk to image; recalls that many defence technologies are dual-use in nature and thus generate significant spillover benefits for civilian innovation and the broader EU economy; stresses the need to address persistent negative perceptions surrounding defence financing, particularly in the banking sector; urges the Commission and the Member States to enhance information and awareness-raising efforts regarding EDTIB financing, so as to enable financial actors to improve their proficiency in analysing and processing defence-related financing; urges the Commission to step up its information and awareness-raising efforts regarding EDTIB financing;

24. Recalls that the EU sustainable finance framework is designed to direct capital flows towards sustainable activities without limiting the financing of the defence sector, as reaffirmed by the Commission in its notice of 18 August 2025, which confirms that the exclusion of defence-related activities from the EU taxonomy does not prevent private or public investors from investing in the defence sector; calls on the Commission to publicly and unequivocally reaffirm that the EU green taxonomy does not prohibit, restrict or discourage investment in defence; stresses that defence and security are prerequisites for sustainable development;

Opening up exit opportunities on financial markets for defence assets by mobilising private capital

25. Considers it essential to support a European market of specialised investors offering a continuum of financing (credit, private debt and equity) to companies, especially start-ups, SMEs and mid-caps, in the EDTIB and in the Ukrainian DTIB; welcomes the Commission and the EIB’s initiative to establish the Defence Equity Facility, with a budget of EUR 175 million for the 2024-2027 period; considers, however, that this fund is entirely insufficient in view of the financing needs and calls on the EIB to comply with the wishes of the Member States, as reiterated in Council conclusions, by increasing this budget to EUR 1 billion, in order to better meet the equity needs of the EDTIB and its value chain, with particular attention on smaller actors facing the greatest financing gap; encourages the EIB to extend this instrument to the Ukrainian DTIB, and to design it so that it fosters partnerships and joint ventures between EDTIB and Ukrainian DTIB companies;

26. Calls on the Commission and the EIB Group to operationalise support for dual-use projects by improving access to such support for early-stage ventures and SMEs, simplifying procedures, providing clear guidance to investors, and reporting regularly on uptake and geographical distribution; calls for effective implementation through targeted calls and clear guidance for managing authorities, so that regions with less developed defence ecosystems can access these opportunities; invites the Member States to reflect these possibilities in programme design and to coordinate with the Commission and the EIB to develop regional investment platforms, ensuring complementarity and avoiding double funding;

27. Calls on the Commission to consider, in its competition policy, defence readiness, security of supply, innovation-enhancing potential and the reduction of dependencies on non-EU countries; calls, at the same time, on the Member States to ensure that their procurement of defence products is open and competitive for the EDTIB as a whole; calls on the Member States to strengthen their controls on direct investment by third-country actors;

28. Calls on the Commission to strengthen industrial cooperation programmes and transnational partnerships, including supply-chain platforms and co-development projects, with a view to integrating production chains, leveraging national expertise, promoting economies of scale and enhancing the global competitiveness of the EDTIB;

29. Highlights the significance of well-functioning capital markets for defence financing; calls on the Commission and the Member States to accelerate progress on the capital markets union and the SIU, specifically by improving access to equity, venture capital and financing for defence sector SMEs; underlines that the capital markets union and the SIU are instrumental in scaling up defence financing;

30. Stresses the importance of accelerating progress on the completion of the SIU, aiming to support a deeper, more liquid and integrated EU financial system that channels savings more efficiently into productive investments such as those in the EU defence industry; emphasises that the EU defence industry needs to substantially increase its capacity to meet the huge rise in demand for military products;

31. Welcomes the launch of the ‘Finance Europe’ label; notes that this label, which aims to channel private savings towards investments in Europe’s real economy, promotes the equity financing of companies; encourages the Commission to support this initiative by proposing a European label as part of the SIU, while ensuring that it does not create an additional administrative burden;

32. Welcomes the Commission recommendation on savings and investment accounts (SIAs); highlights the fact that SIAs aim to boost retail participation in EU capital markets, thus contributing to strengthening the markets and facilitating an increase in the EU investor base that would help finance EU strategic priorities, including defence; encourages the Commission to continue supporting this initiative; calls on the Member States to follow the Commission recommendation on increasing the availability of savings and investment accounts;

33. Welcomes the ongoing work aiming at using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s defence efforts, while addressing financial stability and litigation concerns;

34. Calls for a unified commitment among the Member States to boost defence spending in line with the outcomes of the 2025 NATO The Hague Summit, where NATO allies made a commitment to invest 5 % of GDP annually on core defence requirements and defence- and security-related spending by 2035; urges the Member States to foster European defence initiatives, enhance interoperability and invest in joint procurement aligned with common strategic priorities, including munitions production;

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35. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.