For the ECR Group, Europe cannot afford lengthy innovation cycles when new technologies are changing the battlefield at unprecedented speed.

The new AGILE programme should help promising defence technologies move more quickly from development and testing into practical use. Following the European Parliament’s approval of the €115 million Programme for Agile and Rapid Defence Innovation, ECR Shadow Rapporteur in the Industry Committee Elena Donazzan said:

“Europe has innovative companies with excellent ideas, but too many of them still struggle to enter the defence market. AGILE should give SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups faster access to testing, industrial partners and the supply chains they need to turn promising technologies into products that can actually be used.”

ECR Shadow Rapporteur in the Security and Defence Committee Michał Dworczyk said:

“The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that speed is now a military capability in itself. It is not enough to develop good technology; it has to reach those who need it while it is still relevant. AGILE can help shorten that path, while ensuring that innovation responds to the real defence needs of our Member States and complements the work already being done with NATO.”

The programme introduces streamlined procedures, with final evaluations to be completed within four months of the application deadline. It also gives smaller innovative companies better access to testing and experimentation facilities and strengthens links with prime contractors, system integrators and other defence industry partners.

AGILE will support emerging and disruptive technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and unmanned systems. Projects should respond to the actual capability requirements of Member States, with the aim of moving successful technologies towards operational deployment within one to three years.

For the ECR Group, the programme should also help broaden participation in Europe’s defence industrial base, giving innovative companies from across the Union a better opportunity to contribute and strengthening cooperation with NATO innovation initiatives such as DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic).

Parliament backed the programme by 536 votes to 101, with 16 abstentions. The Council must now complete the final formal step before AGILE can take effect, with implementation due to begin in 2027.