The European Union faces challenges in moving defence equipment and personnel across borders, caused in large part by fragmented national regulations.

On behalf of the undersigned organisations, we express our strong support for the direction the European Commission has taken with its “Digital Omnibus” package proposal. However, we must unequivocally state that its current scope remains insufficient. This initiative marks a promising and much-needed first step toward meaningful deregulation in Europe, but it stops short of the bold, pragmatic, and forward-looking measures required to unlock Europe’s digital potential and secure its long-term economic prosperity.

The European Commission presented its new European Defence Industry Transformation Roadmap, which seeks to apply lessons learned from the war in Ukraine for adapting Europe’s defence capabilities to the realities of modern warfare. While we believe some of the findings presented in the Roadmap to be of merit, we are concerned that it may reflect a shift away from established and proven defence industry actors, which could both reduce European preparedness in the face of ever-growing threats and undermine competitiveness.