The European Parliament's joint ITRE-SEDE committee on 3 June 2026 debated the AGILE programme, a EUR 115 million pilot under the current MFF designed to accelerate disruptive defence innovation from non-traditional SMEs, startups, and scale-ups. Key divergences emerged over scope and financing, with broad consensus on the need for a fast, flexible instrument bridging innovation and procurement, and linking to the Ukraine support loan framework and ADIP's military sales catalogue.
Commission representative Ms Dinkadinkova (DG DEFIS) stressed that member states define calls and that Ukraine is fully associated. On scope, Jan Farsky (Czechia, EPP) and Nicolas Pascual De La Parte (Spain, EPP) pushed to include prime contractors and first-tier subcontractors to ensure effective SME support, while co-rapporteur Ivars Ijabs (Latvia, Renew) insisted the primary focus remains on SMEs. On financing, Christian Ehler (Germany, EPP) warned that lump sums pose budget control challenges and conflict with legal restrictions for research organisations, but Elena Donazzan (Italy, ECR) supported lump sums for simplicity. Engin Eroglu (Germany, Renew) regretted the rejection of an amendment to coordinate with the European Defence Agency. Co-rapporteur Tonino Picula (Croatia, S&D) proposed amendments to reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities for critical components, but the Commission replied that AGILE must focus its limited resources. Ehler also questioned requiring CO2 self-declarations for military tech, but the Commission noted defence activities are already excluded from the 'do no significant harm' principle. Christophe Gomart (France, EPP) stressed that EU financing must bolster the European defence industrial base and avoid critical dependencies. Co-rapporteur Picula expressed confidence in a political agreement under the upcoming Irish presidency. ITRE is scheduled to vote at 10:00.
The debate exposed a moderate split between those favouring a broader industrial base (EPP) and those prioritising SME-only focus (Renew, S&D). The outcome will affect non-traditional defence SMEs, prime contractors, and EU budget oversight, with trade-offs between simplicity (lump sums) and control. The vote will determine whether AGILE remains a niche SME instrument or expands to include larger players.