Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedArticle 4 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new): (cb) SME support mechanisms within the single point of contact, which include a dedicated SME desk providing tailored guidance and early advisory services to SMEs, mid-caps, and small mid-cap enterprises.

Added(2) ‘defence industry’ means all undertakings engaged in the research, development, production, manufacture or supply of defence-related products as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2009/43/EC or in the provision of services directly related to those products for any and all elements of their life cycle;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 1: 1. The permit-granting process for defence readiness projects, including notification of the outcome of that process, shall not exceed 50 working days from the date of the acknowledgement of the completeness of the permit-granting application by the single point of contact.

Added(3) ‘defence readiness’ means the state of preparedness of a Member State or several Member States to anticipate, prevent or respond to a crisis as defined in Article 1, point (10), of Directive 2009/81/EC, which relates to defence;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. Where a defence readiness project involves a modification or extension of an existing facility already authorised under national law, the competent authority shall determine whether the modification requires a new or updated permit, or whether it may proceed under the existing authorisation, provided that environmental, health and safety standards are not affected.

Added(4) ‘middle capitalisation company’ or ‘mid-cap’ means middle capitalisation company as defined in Article 2, point (15), of Regulation (EU) 2021/697 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 2: 2. In exceptional cases, and without prejudice to the ability of the competent authorities to fully and comprehensively assess compliance with Union or national law, where a defence readiness project requires the construction of several facilities or requires several phases, whether located on a single site or across multiple sites, the project promoter and the single point of contact may, where justified by the project’s technical or administrative characteristics, agree to process those components as separate sub-projects for the purposes of complying with the applicable time limits.

Added(5) ‘small mid-cap enterprise’ or ‘small mid-cap’ means a small mid-cap enterprise as defined in the Annex to Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/1099;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 3: 3. In exceptional cases, where the nature, location or size of the proposed defence readiness project so requires, a Member State may once extend the time limits referred to in paragraph 1 by a maximum of 25 working days before their expiry and on a case-by-case basis.

Added(6) ‘small and medium-sized enterprise’ or ‘SME’ means small and medium-sized enterprise as defined in Article 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 4: 4. Where a Member State considers that there is evidence that the defence readiness project is of exceptional complexity, raises exceptional risks for the health and safety of workers or of the general population, raises an exceptional risk on the environment, or where a specific national security clearance is required, and where additional time is necessary to establish that measures to address identifiable risks have been put in place, it may extend the time limits referred to in paragraph 1 by 50 working days, within 25 working days of the start of the permit-granting process.

Added(7) ‘permit-granting process’ means a process that covers all relevant permits, including 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 and all the necessary administrative steps from the confirmation that the permit application is complete to the notification of the comprehensive decision on the outcome of the process by the single point of contact concerned;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 6: 6. No later than 12 working days from the receipt of the permit-granting application, the single point of contact concerned shall acknowledge that the application is complete and whether this Regulation applies or, if the project promoter has not sent all the information required to process the application, request the project promoter to submit a complete application without undue delay, specifying which information is missing. If the submitted application is deemed to be incomplete for a second time, the single point of contact may, within 12 working days of the second submission, make a second request for information. The single point of contact shall not request information in areas not covered in the first request for information and shall be entitled only to request further evidence to complete the identified missing information.

Added(8) ‘project promoter’ means any undertaking or consortium of undertakings developing a defence readiness project;

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. The applicable time limit for the permit-granting process shall commence on the date of the acknowledgment of the completeness of the permit-granting application. Where an environmental impact assessment is required, the application shall be considered completed when the steps (i) and (ii) of the environmental impact assessment, according to the Directive 2011/92/EU, Article 1() points (g)(i) and (g)(ii), including the public consultation, if applicable, have been formally submitted and acknowledged as such in accordance with paragraph 6 of this Article.

Added(9) ‘comprehensive decision’ means the decision taken by competent authorities that determines whether a project promoter is authorised to implement a defence readiness project, without prejudice to any decision taken in the context of an appeal procedure.

RemovedArticle 5 – paragraph 8: 8. Where the single point of contact does not inform the project promoter of the outcome of the permit-granting process within the time limit set out in paragraph 1 and extended, where applicable, in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4, the permits covered by the application shall be deemed to be granted, unless the principle of administrative tacit approval has been excluded for these types of procedures by the national legal system of the Member state concerned. The single point of contact shall within 10 days, without undue delay but not later than within 3 working days provide written confirmation to the project promoter, in writing or electronically indicating that the permits have been implicitly granted based on the application submitted.

AddedArticle 3 Designation of a defence readiness project

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 1: 1. National, regional and local authorities responsible for preparing plans, including zoning, spatial plans and land use plans, shall include in such plans, where appropriate, provisions for the development of defence readiness activities, projects and their required infrastructure, and shall also take into account security considerations, including protection against cyber and hybrid threats targeting critical defence infrastructure. To facilitate the development of defence readiness projects, Member States shall ensure that non-confidential relevant spatial planning data is available online in accordance with Article 3 as well as with applicable Union and national law.

AddedMember States shall determine which projects qualify as a defence readiness project under this Regulation.

RemovedArticle 6 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Where a defence-readiness project is not covered by the plans referred to in paragraph 1, any environmental assessments required under Union or national law, including, where applicable, project-level assessments, shall be completed and taken into account prior to the final decision on the permit.

AddedArticle 4 Single point of contact

RemovedArticle 7 – paragraph 1: All dispute resolution procedures, litigation, appeals and judicial remedies as well as all administrative proceedings related to defence readiness projects before any national courts, tribunals, bodies or panels, including with regard to mediation or arbitration, where they exist in national law, shall be treated as urgent if and to the extent to which national law concerning relevant permit-granting processes provides for such urgency procedures and provided that the applicable rights of defence of individuals or of local communities are respected. Project promoters of defence readiness projects shall participate in such urgency procedures, where applicable. The competent authorities shall guarantee that accelerated judicial and administrative procedures do not undermine the right to an effective remedy.

Added1. By …[3 months after the date of entry into force of this Regulation], each Member State shall establish or designate one authority as single point of contact at the relevant administrative level. The single point of contact shall be the sole point of contact for a defence readiness project.

RemovedArticle 8 a (new): Article 8a / Monitoring and reporting / 1. For the purposes of transparency, ex-post monitoring and Union-wide comparability, each Member State shall submit to the Commission, annually, a statistical report on the application of this Regulation, including: / (a) the total number of received applications for permits for defence readiness projects; / (b) the total number of fast-track procedure permits granted; / (c) the total number of fast-track procedure permits granted tacitly, pursuant to Article 5(8); / (d) the number of SMEs benefiting from fast-track procedures; / (f) specific measures adopted to support SMEs and mid-caps; / 2. The Commission shall make the aggregated results publicly available and, where appropriate, issue guidance to promote the consistent application of this Regulation across Member States. / 3. The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts to specify the template for the submission of above-mentioned information. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. / 4. The single point of contact shall ensure digital traceability of all applications and decisions, guaranteeing transparency and preventing fraud. The data collected through all applications and decisions shall contribute to Union-level monitoring. / 5. The Commission shall evaluate the practices of the Members States regarding tacit approvals. In the case of a disproportionately high number…

Added2. Where necessary to reflect its decentralised administrative organisation, a Member State may establish or designate more than one single point of contact pursuant to paragraph 1. That Member State shall ensure that effective coordination mechanisms are established and that they provide tools to help project promoters identify the appropriate single point of contact for a defence readiness project and that that single point of contact acts as the sole interface for that project.

Added3. The single point of contact shall be responsible for facilitating and coordinating the permit-granting process and for providing information on streamlining the administrative processes in accordance with Article 5, including information to the project promoter on when an application is considered to be completed in accordance with Article 7(1). At the request of the project promoter, prior to the permit application, the single point of contact shall also provide information on the permit-granting process, including the documentation to be submitted as part of the application and the requirements under which a project could be considered a defence readiness project under this Regulation. The provision of such information shall not prejudge the decision of the competent authorities to determine whether a project qualifies as a defence readiness project.

Added4. As the sole point of contact for the project promoter in the permit-granting process for a defence readiness project, the single point of contact shall coordinate and facilitate the submission of all relevant documents and information and shall notify the project promoter of the comprehensive decision. Where so provided for by Member States, the single point of contact may also act as a competent authority and issue comprehensive decisions.

Added5. Project promoters shall be allowed to submit any documents relevant to the permit-granting process in electronic form. Member States shall ensure the digital exchange, including via an interoperable portal where available, of documentation between the competent authority, the single point of contact and the project promoters.

Added6. The competent authorities, coordinated by the single point of contact, shall ensure that any relevant studies carried out, or permits or authorisations issued, for a given project and for project promoters are taken into account and that no duplicate studies, permits or authorisations are required, unless otherwise required under Union or national law.

Added7. Member States shall ensure that the single point of contact and all competent authorities responsible for any step in the permit-granting processes, including all procedural steps, have sufficient qualified staff and sufficient financial, technical and digital resources ▌ , including, where appropriate, for up- skilling and re-skilling, for the effective performance of their tasks under this Regulation.

Added8. The competent authorities involved in the permit-granting process and other authorities concerned shall specify and make available to the single point of contact concerned, the requirements and all information requested of a project promoter before the permit-granting process commences.

Added9. Upon request by a Member State, the Commission shall assist the authorities of that Member State with capacity building in support of implementation of this Regulation, in particular with technical assistance in establishing or operating a single point of contact and an interoperable portal. The Commission shall make best efforts to treat such requests as priority.

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Added10. Where a defence readiness project is cross-border within the Union, the Member States concerned shall ensure coordination and the timely exchange of information, without prejudice to national security and confidentiality requirements.

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AddedArticle 5 Online accessibility of information

AddedMember States shall provide public access to the following information on permit-granting processes relevant to defence readiness projects, online and in a centralised and easily accessible manner, to the extent that such publication is without prejudice to national security and with due regard to confidentiality requirements:

Added(a) the single points of contact referred to in Article 4(1);

Added(b) the permit-granting process, including information on dispute settlement concerning the permit-granting process and, where applicable, on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, if such procedures are provided for by national law;

Added(c) financing and investment services for defence readiness projects;

Added(d) funding possibilities at Union and Member State level for defence readiness projects;

Added(e) business support services, including but not limited to support services for corporate tax declaration, local tax laws or, where relevant and in accordance with national practices, labour law, for defence readiness projects;

Added(f) guidelines and templates provided for standardised permit applications where available.

Added▌

AddedArticle 6 Accelerating implementation

AddedMember States shall provide administrative support for defence readiness projects located on their territory, paying particular attention to SMEs and mid-caps, including small mid-cap enterprises, involved in those projects, by providing, inter alia:

Added(a) assistance regarding compliance with applicable administrative and reporting obligations, including under Union and national health, environmental, safety, social and labour law, where relevant;

Added(b) assistance to project promoters in informing the public about the project;

Added(c) assistance to project promoters throughout the permit-granting process ▌ ;

Added(d) coordination and assistance to project promoters of defence readiness projects with cross-border dimension.

AddedArticle 7 Completeness check of the permit application

Added1. No later than 14 working days from receiving the permit application, the single point of contact shall inform the applicant whether this Regulation applies and confirm whether the permit application received is complete.

Added2. If during the period referred to in paragraph 1 it is determined that information is missing from the permit application, the single point of contact shall request the project promoter to submit the missing information, specifying which information is missing.

AddedIf the submitted permit application is deemed to be incomplete for a second time, the single point of contact may, within 10 working days of the second submission, make a second and final request for information. The single point of contact shall not request information in areas not covered in the first request for information and shall be entitled only to request further evidence to complete the identified missing information. If the submitted permit application is deemed incomplete for a third time, the process shall be considered terminated for the purposes of this Regulation.

Added3. Where an environmental impact assessment report or other assessments are required as part of the permit application, a permit application shall be considered to be complete for the purposes of this Regulation only once the part of those assessments falling under the responsibility of the project promoter have been carried out and included in the permit application.

Added4. The date on which the single point of contact notifies the project promoter that it has received a complete permit application shall serve as the start of the permit-granting process.

AddedArticle 8 Duration of the permit-granting process

Added1. The permit-granting process, including the granting of the relevant permit, shall 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 in accordance with Article 7(1) and (4).

Added2. The single point of contact shall, in close cooperation with the competent authorities, draw up a schedule for the permit-granting process and share that schedule with the project promoter, at the start of the permit-granting process.