The European Commission adopted a Delegated Directive on 10 July 2026 that replaces the annex to Directive 2009/43/EC with an updated list of defence-related products, aligning it strictly with the Common Military List of the European Union updated by the Council on 23 February 2026. The update affects all Member States and applies to the European Economic Area.
The Delegated Directive, adopted under reference C(2026)4573, substitutes the existing annex with a new list identical to the Common Military List as revised by the Council. Member States must adopt and publish transposition laws by the last day of the third month following publication in the Official Journal, and apply them from five working days after that date. They are also required to communicate the text of those provisions and the main national law provisions to the Commission. The Directive enters into force on the 20th day after its publication in the Official Journal.
This technical update ensures that the EU's internal market rules for defence-related products remain consistent with the latest common military list, which defines items subject to export controls and intra-EU transfer rules. The revision does not alter the substance of Directive 2009/43/EC, which simplifies the conditions for transferring defence products within the EU, but merely updates the product scope to reflect technological and security developments.
For Member States, the main impact is an administrative obligation to transpose the updated list into national law within a tight timeline. Defence industry stakeholders will need to verify whether their products are newly included or excluded from the list, which affects licensing requirements for intra-EU transfers. The update has no direct impact on consumers or taxpayers, as it concerns business-to-business transactions in the defence sector.
The European Parliament and the Council will be notified of the Delegated Directive, which is subject to the standard scrutiny period under the comitology rules. No opposition is expected, as the update is a purely technical alignment with a Council-agreed list.