Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Addede. physical protection and continuity with defined protection levels for the population and critical infrastructure to reduce losses and ensure uninterrupted operations;

Addedf. critical infrastructure resilience aimed at guaranteeing the survivability and continuous functionality of essential services;

Addedg. border defence integrating technological solutions to prevent infiltration, supported by intelligence and rapid response capabilities;

Addedh. enhancing community resilience by supporting national and local leadership, integrating volunteers, supporting vulnerable populations, and providing real-time community guidance;

Addedi. support to public information and communication campaigns that advise on credible communication strategies through official channels and social media to maintain trust and awareness;

Addedj. developing economic resilience by supporting the coordination of emergency stocks and resources, and the continuity of essential services at all levels;

Addedk. training and exercises conducted jointly, with simulations focusing on ensuring preparedness and effective crisis management;

Added46. Recommends the joint development and procurement of multilayered defence systems and robust homeland preparedness emphasising civil alert systems, protected shelters and public education campaigns;

Added47. Emphasises that unmanned systems are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks and intelligence infiltration; calls on the Member States and the relevant EU agencies to strengthen the overall security of drone technologies, including cyber-resilience, encryption standards, ownership control, and resistance to espionage and hostile intelligence activities, ensuring protection across the entire life cycle of such systems;

AddedRapid deployability

Added48. Stresses the challenges posed by UAS to the Member States owing to their dynamic targeting in urban and concealed environments, tactical flexibility, surgical accuracy, asymmetrical advantage and mass deployment capacity;

Added49. Recognises the challenges posed by Russia’s adoption of layered drone operations combining intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) drones that provide real-time data, followed immediately by strike drones, giving national defence forces’ limited time to strengthen defences and organise response capabilities;

Added50. Strongly condemns the recent series of Russian drone incursions and suspected hostile overflights in several EU Member States, targeting border areas, energy facilities, military sites and logistics hubs;

Added51. Warns that these incidents demonstrate the increasing capability of state and non-state actors to employ low-cost unmanned systems to threaten public safety, disrupt supply chains and test EU and NATO defensive readiness;

Added52. Expresses serious concern regarding Russia’s deployment of drones delivered by its partners both over Ukrainian territory and in violation of EU Member States’ airspace;

Added53. Calls for enhanced sanctions that target Russian supply chains and manufacturing components, as well as Russian technological transfers that enable other countries to supply Russia with drone technology;

Added54. Urges the Commission to take the necessary measures to prevent such actions;

Added55. Stresses that effective national civil defence strategies against drone attacks must be supported by modernised dual-use transport and communication infrastructure allowing the swift movement of counter-UAS units, mobile radar assets and repair teams, ensuring that resilience plans translate into operational mobility;

Added56. Considers Ukraine’s adoption of decentralised drone units with platoon-level control a valuable methodology worthy of emulation;

Added57. Recommends that drone strike teams with autonomous decision cycles be integrated into Member States’ armed forces brigades;

Added58. Urges the Commission and the Member States, together with NATO, to launch a six-month EU-NATO pilot to form, certify and validate initial company-level combat drone units for deployment with allied brigades, with a requirement to publish the pilot validation report and recommended follow-on actions;

Added59. Recognises that the effectiveness of UAS systems primarily depends on the accuracy of navigation while operating in intense EW environments;

Added60. Recommends that controlled reception pattern antennas (CRPAs) and the use of reliable global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals such as the Galileo Public Regulated Service be adopted by armed forces’ drone operators to provide a precise timing reference and reduce navigation error;

Added61. Emphasises the need to complement offensive UAS investments with counter-UAS systems, electronic protection measures and GNSS resilience to minimise vulnerability to enemy jamming and interference;

Added62. Calls for immediate funding and rapid implementation of combat drone units, both anti-tank and anti-personnel, across NATO and EU armed forces at company, battalion and brigade levels, and for these to be organically embedded within combat units across Europe; requests that Ukraine be included as a full operational and doctrinal partner in the development, training and certification process; urges the Commission and the High Representative to devise a two-year accelerated programme for procurement, training, sustainment and certification;

Added63. Recommends that the Member States develop, on the basis of their national defence strategies, a joint response to UAS attacks, including by jointly developing and procuring technological solutions that can be jointly deployed and are fully interoperable with NATO C2 systems and seamlessly integrated into civil air traffic management systems and the EU’s U-Space framework for drone integration to address hybrid warfare scenarios;

Added64. Stresses the potential and benefits of civil drones and the major transformation they have brought to mobility, logistics, emergency management and cartography, among many other fields, and notes that they already represent significant progress in addressing the EU’s security and defence challenges;

Sourcing, financing and procuring drones and C-UAS capabilities

Change 3

Removed8. Calls on the European Defence Agency (EDA) to implement pre-approved vendor lists and priority orders for critical drone components and platforms, allowing faster contracting during crises;

AddedPre-approved vendors

Removed9. Encourages the Member States and the EDA to streamline certification and airworthiness standards to speed integration and reduce duplication in testing and credentialing;

Added65. Calls on the national and international procurement and contracting authorities, including, among others, the Commission and the EDA, to establish open and transparent pre-approved vendor lists and priority orders for critical drone components and platforms, in close coordination with the Member States and ensuring equal access for SMEs across the Union, to allow faster contracting during crises;

Removed10. Calls on the Commission to simplify intra-EU transfer rules for drone-related technology under Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 setting up a Union regime for the control of exports, brokering, technical assistance, transit and transfer of dual-use items;

Added66. Stresses that such lists should be based on transparent and competitive selection processes that are regularly updated to reflect operational feedback (including from Ukraine), and should avoid creating long-term market favours that could distort competition; calls for the expansion of access to EU financial instruments and for procurement procedures that include start-ups and research institutions on equal terms;

Removed11. Ensure that all drone platforms funded by the EDF comply with EU-origin criteria for major subcomponents;

Added67. Calls for the EU to establish an EDA-managed roster of pre-approved vendors for critical drone sub-assemblies, and notes the importance of allowing SMEs to qualify through on-site audits rather than by demonstrating full past performance, in order to facilitate their participation in the European defence industrial base;

Removed12. Encourages EDIP and other financial instruments to prioritise the financing of regional drone manufacturing hubs with shared infrastructure and regulatory fast-tracking, particularly among frontline states;

AddedSME support

Removed13. Calls on the EDA to expand its operational experimentation campaign into a standing drone innovation accelerator for fast-track fielding;

AddedOn regional hubs and financing instruments

Removed14. Calls on the Commission to draft a critical drone component manufacturing action plan that provides targeted subsidies for brushless direct current motor, lithium battery, sensor and additive manufacturing in the EU;

Added68. Encourages the Member States and the EDA to streamline certification and airworthiness standards to speed up integration and reduce duplication in testing and credentialling; encourages the EDIP and other financial instruments to prioritise the financing of regional drone manufacturing and C-UAS innovation hubs with shared infrastructure and regulatory fast-tracking, particularly among front line states; emphasises the importance of promoting fair labour practices, social protection and skills development for a high-quality workforce, while also supporting local communities and SMEs, with a focus on creating sustainable employment opportunities;

Removed15. Calls on the Commission to draft a working plan to develop strategic reserves of powder, propellant, primers, carbon frames, electronics, motors, microchips and other key materials for UAS development;

Added69. Calls for dedicated support for SMEs to access these financial instruments, including simplified application procedures and award criteria;

AddedOn SME access to funding and procurement

Added70. Notes that SMEs face significant barriers to accessing EU defence funds and are often excluded from large-scale procurement dominated by legacy contractors; encourages, therefore, the creation of specific mechanisms to support SME onboarding by reducing administrative burdens, introducing direct-funding instruments with tolerance for failure, and providing opportunities for mini-grants and rapid-funding tools essential for SMEs, while ensuring fair conditions through proportionate consortium requirements, reasonable guarantees and flexible payment terms; encourages the inclusion of start-ups and research organisations in procurement processes;

Added71. Recognises that 80 % of the European industry involved in the development, manufacture and operation of light drones consists of SMEs, which are essential for R&D and innovation in drone technology and for a swift response to unexpected changes in the industry, as demonstrated in Ukraine, and that these companies face difficulties in obtaining financing for their projects;

Added72. Calls on the Commission to establish a single contact point to inform and assist EU drone manufacturing SMEs in obtaining and accessing financing, given that their business structure makes it difficult for them to bear the bureaucratic burden associated with these processes;

Added73. Welcomes the Commission’s existing initiatives, particularly through the EDF’s EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), to support EU defence SMEs and start-ups;

Added74. Calls on the EDA and the Commission to build upon these efforts by exploring additional measures to fast-track European drone SME deployment of high-impact defence systems in a way that enables these SMEs to pursue export opportunities beyond Europe – to ensure their commercial viability – while simultaneously developing European defence capabilities and facilitating integration with the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) and promoting frequent joint innovation efforts;

AddedOn SME growth, scaling and industrial integration

Added75. Recognises that the majority of drone industry firms are SMEs and start-ups, and that it is therefore essential to simplify procedures and support measures for SMEs, such as grants, regulatory support, integration and scaling;

Added76. Calls for the establishment of regional drone innovation clusters that connect SMEs, research centres and larger defence integrators to promote technology transfer and industrial synergies;

Added77. Recognises the EDF’s potential in aiding SME development into key suppliers and encourages programmes that aid SME capacity to source components, develop manufacturing engineering and support high levels of automation to ramp up production;

Added78. Encourages EDF programmes to allow more rapid scaling of SMEs via a series of funding rounds that support early growth and access to capital, product development, testing and evaluation, building on the BraveTech EU initiative;

Added79. Calls on the Commission to incentivise joint ventures between major European defence primes and SME drone innovators to scale up production; recommends the inclusion of Ukrainian industry in this regard;

AddedOn testing, certification and regulatory simplification

Added80. Recognises the lengthy period between testing and validation of drones and encourages Member States to repeal procurement constraints that cause obstruction to SME testing of key capabilities;

AddedEuropean Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB)

Added81. Encourages the Member States and the Council to integrate next-generation drone technologies such as edge AI, swarm autonomy and hardened C2 links into the EDTIB, while seeking the gradual and mutually beneficial integration of the Ukrainian defence technology and industrial base and making use of long-term industrial roadmaps, flagship EDF clusters and to fast-track EDIP instruments to ensure timely adaptation and preserve the Union’s technological edge;