GG Thinks: Defense Is A Driver For Reindustrialization

The Defense Readiness Omnibus and its associated legislative package is a clear and credible signal that the EU is confronting some of the long-standing structural barriers to its defense industrial capacity. Streamlining permitting, revising state aid rules and adopting a more pragmatic stance on environmental licensing are crucial first steps, but the defense industrial complex cannot be effectively reformed without broader civil-military technological convergence.

This integrated perspective is also reflected in the Draghi Report on EU competitiveness, which addresses the importance of the defense sector in both ensuring strategic autonomy on the face of external security threats as well as in driving innovation through spillovers across the broader economy. Beyond regulatory fine-tuning, an underlying shift in how defense, industrial strategy and environmental policy are reconciled is essential. Focus on dual-use technologies, the role of SMEs and startups in