The joint ITRE-SEDE committee meeting on 3 June 2026 revealed divergences over the AGILE programme, a EUR 115 million pilot under the current MFF to accelerate disruptive defence innovation from non-traditional SMEs, startups, and scale-ups. Commission representative Ms Dinkadinkova (DG DEFIS) stressed that member states define calls and Ukraine is fully associated.
Key divergences emerged on scope and financing. 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 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 rejecting 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. Christian Ehler 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.
Broad consensus supported a fast, flexible instrument for SMEs, bridging innovation and procurement, linking to the Ukraine support loan framework and ADIP's military sales catalogue. Co-rapporteur Picula expressed confidence in a political agreement under the upcoming Irish presidency. ITRE is scheduled to vote at 10:00.
The EPP push to include primes could benefit large defence contractors but risks diluting SME access. Lump-sum financing simplifies administration for startups but raises audit concerns for research organisations. Excluding supply-chain amendments keeps AGILE focused but may leave critical dependencies unaddressed. The exclusion of defence from DNSH avoids administrative burden for military tech developers.