Defence-related investments in the EU budget

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)'s ECO section has adopted its opinion on the European Commission proposal to incentivise defence-related investments in the EU budget under the ReArm Europe Plan. The Committee welcomes the proposal’s objective of strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and achieving defence readiness within five years, but calls for stronger ambition, democratic oversight, and integration of social, territorial and dual-use dimensions.

Key points

In the opinion, ECO recommends:

• Expanding the scope of investments to include satellite intelligence, interoperability, dual-use projects and longer-term programming, with balanced distribution across Member States and regions.
• Ensuring democratic and social safeguards by involving national monitoring committees, setting ceilings for fund transfers, attaching social conditionalities (skills, reskilling, worker transition), and requiring impact assessments for large projects.
• Building a coordinated EU defence strategy through a common register for defence and dual-use investments, closer complementarity with other EU funds (e.g. ESF, SAFE), and creating a dedicated EU body to coordinate procurement, innovation and market consolidation.

Additional information

EESC section: Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO)

Opinion type: Legislative opinion

Rapporteur: Jacek KRAWCZYK (Employers – GR I, Poland)

Co-rapporteur: Florian MARIN (Workers – GR II, Romania)

Reference: ECO/679-EESC-2025

Date of adoption by section: 5/9/2025

Date of adoption in plenary: 17-18/09/2025

Contact

Thomas Kersten

Press Officer

Email: thomas.kersten@eesc.europa.eu

Gerald Klec

Policy Officer

Email: eco@eesc.europa.eu