The European Commission puts forward a number of Commission-led initiatives in areas critical for defence and security within the European Union. These comprise a Contribution to European defence, covering the full range of challenges, from the conventional defence industry and equipment on land, sea and air, to cyber, hybrid and space threats, military mobility and the relevance of climate change; and a roadmap on critical technologies for security and defence.

These new initiatives are concrete steps towards a more integrated and competitive European defence market, particularly by enhancing cooperation within the EU, thereby building scale, mastering costs and enhancing operational effectiveness. With its announcement today, the Commission provides input in the run-up to the EU Strategic Compass on Security and Defence.

By using all available means in an ever-evolving geopolitical and technological context, the Commission aims at strengthening the Union's ability to counter fast-changing multi-layered threats.

The Commission has, in particular, identified the following main new areas to further strengthen the competitiveness of the European defence market:

• explore how to further stimulate Member States investments in key strategic capabilities and critical enablers that are developed and/or procured in European Union cooperative frameworks;
• further incentivise the joint procurement of defence capabilities developed in a collaborative way within the EU;
• call upon Member States to continue moving towards streamlined and more convergent arms exports control practices, in particular for defence capabilities developed in an EU cooperative framework.

Through these defence initiatives, the Commission announces actions to be launched and implemented in the upcoming years. The Commission remains ready to consider additional steps forward in the light of progress made and the evolution of the threats and challenges the Union faces in the future.