Text · Opinion parliamentary committee

On the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects

Document ENVI-AD-781244 · COM(2025)0821 – C100122/2025 – 2025/0172(COD)

Kind: Opinion parliamentary committee ENVI-AD-781244
Date: 4 December 2025
Committee: Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety
Rapporteur: Antonio Decaro
Dossier: 2025/0172(COD)

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Formats: Official page PDF Word
Subject matter: PESC, ENV
Reference: COM(2025)0821 – C100122/2025 – 2025/0172(COD)

Formats: Official page PDF Word
Subject matter: PESC, ENV
Reference: COM(2025)0821 – C100122/2025 – 2025/0172(COD)

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In short

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The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety proposes amendments to the proposed regulation on speeding up permit-granting for defence readiness projects. The amendments keep environmental rules as part of permit procedures while combining required assessments, and set the permit process at 60 working days after certain environmental impact assessment steps end. They add safeguards: no project splitting that harms overall environmental effects, extensions for environmental and climate risks, and combined assessments under several environmental directives. They require single points of contact to inform promoters about environmental impact assessments and to publish permit decisions, with limited grounds to refuse environmental information.

Position. The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety proposes amendments to the lead committees to keep environmental safeguards, combine assessments, set a 60-working-day permit process after certain environmental impact assessment steps, and add transparency and information duties.

Key points

Environmental assessments required by Union law should be combined to avoid duplication and overlap, without lowering protection standards or assessment quality.
When a project needs an environmental impact assessment under Directive 2011/92/EC, steps (i) and (ii) of its timeline are excluded from the permit-granting duration.
The permit-granting process, including the permit, must not exceed 60 working days from when the environmental impact assessment steps and public consultation are concluded and the application is submitted.
The rule on project splitting does not apply where the overall project requires environmental assessment or decision-making under Directives 2001/42/EC, 2011/92/EU, 92/43/EEC, 2009/147/EC and 2000/60/EC; splitting must be justified and must not compromise overall environmental effects.
A member state may extend the time limits by 60 days, within 30 days of the start of the process, where a project raises exceptional risks for the environment and climate or for health and safety.
Where national law already provides for it, permits are deemed granted if the single point of contact does not inform the promoter in time, and written confirmation must be delivered promptly.
The single point of contact must notify the promoter when an environmental impact assessment applies and provide information on the scope and level of detail of the assessment report.
Authorities preparing plans, including zoning, spatial and land use plans, should include provisions for defence readiness activities, projects and infrastructure, giving priority to artificial and built surfaces, industrial sites and brownfield sites.
Assessments under Directive 2001/42/EC and Article 6 of Directive 92/43/EEC must be combined, covering water bodies, marine environment impacts and land-sea interactions, without affecting content or quality, within the regulation's time limits.
Where environmental assessment obligations arise simultaneously from two or more listed directives, member states may provide for coordinated and/or joint procedures.
All permit decisions must be publicly available in an easily understandable manner on the same website, and environmental information may be refused only if disclosure would adversely affect national defence or public security.

Who is affected

Project promoters of defence readiness projects, who must be informed about environmental impact assessment requirements and permit outcomes.
National, regional and local authorities preparing plans, who should include defence readiness provisions and ensure spatial planning data is online.
Member states, which may extend time limits, provide for joint procedures and must publish permit decisions.
Single points of contact, which must notify promoters, deliver written confirmation and provide assessment information.

Figures and deadlines

60 working days, the maximum duration of the permit-granting process from the conclusion of environmental impact assessment steps and submission of the application.
60 days, the possible extension of time limits where a project raises exceptional risks for the environment and climate or health and safety.
30 days from the start of the permit-granting process, the deadline for a member state to decide on an extension.

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Jump to an amendment (11)

Amendment 1
Amendment 2
Amendment 3
Amendment 4
Amendment 5
Amendment 6
Amendment 7
Amendment 8
Amendment 9
Amendment 10
Amendment 11

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety submits the following to the Committee on Security and Defence and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, as the committee responsible:

Amendment 1

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 10

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission(10) Complying with Union law, including for instance in relation to water, waste management, air, ecosystems, habitats, archaeological, biodiversity and birds’ protection, are integral part of the permit granting procedure, also for the defence sector. Such rules are an essential safeguard to ensure negative impacts are prevented or minimised. However, to ensure that permit granting procedures for defence readiness projects are predictable and timely, any potential to streamline the required assessments and authorisations while not lowering the level of, for instance, environmental protection, should be realised. In that regard, it should be ensured that the necessary assessments are bundled to prevent unnecessary overlap.	Amendment(10) Complying with Union law, including for instance in relation to water, waste management, air, ecosystems, habitats, archaeological, biodiversity and birds’ protection, are integral part of the permit granting procedure, also for the defence sector. Such rules are an essential safeguard to ensure negative impacts are prevented or minimised. However, to ensure that permit granting procedures for defence readiness projects are predictable, efficient and timely, the required assessments and authorisations should be streamlined, while not lowering the high level and standards of, for instance, environmental protection. In that regard, it should be ensured that the necessary environmental assessments required by relevant Union law are combined to avoid duplications and prevent unnecessary overlap. The fact that the required assessments are combined should not compromise the quality of the assessments.

Amendment 2

Proposal for a regulation

Recital 10 a (new)

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment(10a) This Regulation clarifies that, when a project is subject to an environmental impact assessment pursuant to Directive 2011/92/EC, the steps (i) and (ii) of the environmental impact assessment timeline should not be included in the duration of the permit-granting process established by this Regulation. This Regulation also requires single points of contact to provide information to project promoters about the requirement to carry out an environmental impact assessment, as well as the scope and level of detail of such assessment.

Amendment 3

Proposal for a regulation

Article 5 – paragraph 1

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission1. The permit-granting process for defence readiness projects, including the granting of the relevant permit, shall not exceed [60] days.	Amendment1. The permit-granting process for defence readiness projects, including the granting of the relevant permit, shall not exceed 60 working days from the date when, if applicable, steps (i) and (ii) of the environmental impact assessment, according to Article 1(2), point (g), of the Directive 2011/92/EU, including the public consultation, has been formally concluded and the permit application has been officially submitted to the designated system, while maintaining compliance with applicable Union and national law.

Amendment 4

Proposal for a regulation

Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment2a. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not apply where the overall project requires environmental assessment and/or decision-making including under Directives 2001/42/EC, 2011/92/EU as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU, 92/43/EEC, 2009/147/EC and 2000/60/EC. Project splitting shall be duly justified and permitted only where it does not compromise the consideration of the overall effects on the environment.

Amendment 5

Proposal for a regulation

Article 5 – paragraph 4

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission4. Where a Member State considers that the defence readiness project raises exceptional risks for the health and safety of workers or of the general population, 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 60 days, within 30 days of the start of the permit-granting process.	Amendment4. Where a Member State considers that the defence readiness project raises exceptional risks for the environment and climate, or for the health and safety of workers or of the general population 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 60 days, within 30 days of the start of the permit-granting process.

Amendment 6

Proposal for a regulation

Article 5 – paragraph 8

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission8. 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. The single point of contact shall promptly deliver written confirmation to the project promoter, indicating that the permits have been implicitly granted based on the application submitted.	Amendment8. Where already provided for by national law, 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. The single point of contact shall promptly deliver written confirmation to the project promoter, indicating that the permits have been implicitly granted based on the application submitted.

Amendment 7

Proposal for a regulation

Article 5 – paragraph 8 a (new)

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment8a. The single point of contact concerned shall notify the project promoter when the environmental impact assessment referred to in Article 1(2), point (g), of Directive 2011/92/EU applies and shall provide information on the scope and level of detail of the information to be included in the environmental impact assessment report under Article 5(1) of that Directive.

Amendment 8

Proposal for a regulation

Article 6 – paragraph 1

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission1. 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 as well as the necessary infrastructure. To facilitate the development of defence readiness projects, Member States shall ensure that all relevant spatial planning data is available online in accordance with Article 3.	Amendment1. 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. Where considering to include such provisions, priority shall be given, where applicable, to artificial and built surfaces, industrial sites and brownfield sites. To facilitate the development of defence readiness projects, Member States shall ensure that all relevant spatial planning data is available online in accordance with Article 3.

Amendment 9

Proposal for a regulation

Article 6 – paragraph 2

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission2. Where plans include provisions for the development of defence readiness projects, and their required infrastructure, and are subject to an assessment pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council11 and pursuant to Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC12 , those assessments shall be combined. Where applicable, the combined assessment shall also address the impact on potentially affected water bodies referred to in Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council13 . Where relevant, the Member States are required to assess the impacts of existing and future activities on the marine environment, including land-sea interactions, as referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council14 those impacts shall also be covered in the combined assessment. The fact that assessments are combined pursuant to this paragraph shall not affect their content or quality. The combined assessment shall be carried out within the time limits set out in this Regulation.	Amendment2. Where plans include provisions for the development of defence readiness projects, and their required infrastructure, and are subject to an assessment pursuant to Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council11 and pursuant to Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC12, those assessments shall be combined. Where applicable, the combined assessment shall also address the impact on potentially affected water bodies referred to in Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council13. Where relevant, the Member States are required to assess the impacts of existing and future activities on the marine environment, including land-sea interactions, as referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council14 those impacts shall also be covered in the combined assessment. The fact that assessments are combined pursuant to this paragraph shall not affect their content or quality. The examination of the combined assessment by the competent authority shall be carried out within the time limits set out in this Regulation.
Text proposed by the Commission11 Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2001/42/oj).	Amendment11 Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (OJ L 197, 21.7.2001, p. 30, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2001/42/oj).
Text proposed by the Commission12 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/43/oj).	Amendment12 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/43/oj).
Text proposed by the Commission13 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/60/oj).	Amendment13 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/60/oj).
Text proposed by the Commission14 Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 135, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/89/oj).	Amendment14 Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 135, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2014/89/oj).

Amendment 10

Proposal for a regulation

Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment2a. Where the obligation to assess the effects on the environment arises simultaneously from any two or more of Directives 2000/60/EC, 2001/42/EC, 2008/98/EC, 2009/147/EC, 2010/75/EU, 2011/92/EU, 2012/18/EU, 2014/89/EC, or 92/43/EEC, Member States may provide for coordinated and/or joint procedures.

Amendment 11

Proposal for a regulation

Article 8 – paragraph 1

Amendment: Text proposed by the Commission and Amendment
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Text proposed by the CommissionThis Regulation is without prejudice, where relevant, to the obligations under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed at Aarhus on 25 June 1998, and under the UNECE Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, signed at Espoo on 25 February 1991 and its Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment, signed in Kyiv on 21 May 2003.	AmendmentThis Regulation is without prejudice, where relevant, to the obligations under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed at Aarhus on 25 June 1998, and under the UNECE Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context, signed at Espoo on 25 February 1991 and its Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment, signed in Kyiv on 21 May 2003. All permit decisions adopted pursuant to this Regulation shall be made publicly available in an easily understandable manner and all permit decisions concerning a project shall be available on the same website. A request for environmental information may be refused if the disclosure would adversely affect national defence or public security as referred in Article 4 of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.

Back matter, 1

Parts that accompany the text rather than belong to it: explanatory statement, annexes, opinions appended by other committees. Collapsed.

Annex: declaration of input 1 block

The Chair in his capacity as rapporteur for opinion declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not include in his opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

Procedure pages and committee votes

How the committees handled the text and how their members voted on it. Collapsed.

Procedure – committee asked for opinion 1 block

Table from the text: Title
Title	Acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects
References	COM(2025)0821 – C10-0122/2025 – 2025/0172(COD)
Committee(s) responsible Date announced in plenary	SEDE 8.9.2025	IMCO 8.9.2025
Opinion by Date announced in plenary	ENVI 8.9.2025
Rapporteur for the opinion Date appointed	Antonio Decaro 1.10.2025
Rule 59 – Joint committee procedure Date announced in plenary	8.9.2025
Simplified procedure - date of decision	23.9.2025
Date adopted	3.12.2025
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	54 17 5
Members present for the final vote	Grégory Allione, Pascal Arimont, Sakis Arnaoutoglou, Christophe Clergeau, Annalisa Corrado, Antonio Decaro, Viktória Ferenc, Pietro Fiocchi, Emma Fourreau, Anne-Sophie Frigout, Heléne Fritzon, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, Roman Haider, Martin Hojsík, Romana Jerković, Stefan Köhler, András Tivadar Kulja, Peter Liese, César Luena, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Ignazio Roberto Marino, Dan-Ştefan Motreanu, Rasmus Nordqvist, Michele Picaro, Jessica Polfjärd, Massimiliano Salini, Silvia Sardone, Lena Schilling, Christine Schneider, Günther Sidl, Sander Smit, Susana Solís Pérez, Antonín Staněk, Ingeborg Ter Laak, Beatrice Timgren, Dimitris Tsiodras, Ana Vasconcelos, Aurelijus Veryga, Kristian Vigenin, Alexandr Vondra, Michal Wiezik, Tiemo Wölken, Anna Zalewska
Substitutes present for the final vote	Michael Bloss, Biljana Borzan, Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain, Stefano Cavedagna, Susanna Ceccardi, Per Clausen, Raúl de la Hoz Quintano, Nikolas Farantouris, Sigrid Friis, Michalis Hadjipantela, Martin Häusling, Sérgio Humberto, Adam Jarubas, Pierre Jouvet, Norbert Lins, Sara Matthieu, Danuše Nerudová, Valentina Palmisano, Dennis Radtke, Elena Sancho Murillo, Antonella Sberna, Christine Singer, Anna Stürgkh, Kai Tegethoff, Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik
Members under Rule 216(7) present for the final vote	Daniel Attard, Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle, Mary Khan, Jaroslav Knot, Alexandra Mehnert, Matjaž Nemec, Paulius Saudargas, Volker Schnurrbusch

Final vote by roll call by the committee asked for opinion 3 blocks

54 · For

EPP: Pascal Arimont, Raúl de la Hoz Quintano, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, Michalis Hadjipantela, Sérgio Humberto, Adam Jarubas, Stefan Köhler, András Tivadar Kulja, Peter Liese, Norbert Lins, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Alexandra Mehnert, Dan-Ştefan Motreanu, Danuše Nerudová, Jessica Polfjärd, Dennis Radtke, Paulius Saudargas, Christine Schneider, Sander Smit, Susana Solís Pérez, Ingeborg Ter Laak, Dimitris Tsiodras
Patriots: Jaroslav Knot, Antonín Staněk
Renew: Grégory Allione, Sigrid Friis, Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle, Martin Hojsík, Christine Singer, Anna Stürgkh, Ana Vasconcelos, Michal Wiezik
S&D: Sakis Arnaoutoglou, Daniel Attard, Biljana Borzan, Christophe Clergeau, Annalisa Corrado, Antonio Decaro, Heléne Fritzon, Romana Jerković, Pierre Jouvet, César Luena, Matjaž Nemec, Elena Sancho Murillo, Günther Sidl, Kristian Vigenin, Tiemo Wölken
Greens: Michael Bloss, Martin Häusling, Ignazio Roberto Marino, Sara Matthieu, Rasmus Nordqvist, Lena Schilling, Kai Tegethoff

17 · Against

ECR: Stefano Cavedagna, Pietro Fiocchi, Michele Picaro, Antonella Sberna, Beatrice Timgren, Aurelijus Veryga, Alexandr Vondra, Anna Zalewska
ESN: Mary Khan, Volker Schnurrbusch
Patriots: Susanna Ceccardi, Roman Haider, Silvia Sardone
The Left: Per Clausen, Nikolas Farantouris, Emma Fourreau, Valentina Palmisano

5 · Abstained

ESN: Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik
EPP: Massimiliano Salini
Patriots: Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain, Viktória Ferenc, Anne-Sophie Frigout

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Permalink: https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/ENVI-AD-781244
Data source: EP Open Data API: document record
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Retrieved: 25 September 2026

Cite as

European Parliament (2025). “OPINION on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects”. Text, 4 December 2025. docId ENVI-AD-781244. EU Parl Watch Research. https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/ENVI-AD-781244 (retrieved 25 September 2026). Data: EP Open Data API: document record, https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2/documents/ENVI-AD-781244 (CC BY 4.0).

BibTeX

@misc{epw-text-envi-ad-781244,
  author = {{European Parliament}},
  title = {{OPINION on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the acceleration of permit-granting for defence readiness projects}},
  year = {2025},
  date = {2025-12-04},
  howpublished = {\url{https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/ENVI-AD-781244}},
  url = {https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/ENVI-AD-781244},
  urldate = {2026-09-25},
  publisher = {EU Parl Watch Research},
  note = {Text. docId ENVI-AD-781244. Data: EP Open Data API: document record (CC BY 4.0)}
}