The Riigikogu amended the national positions in the interest of a speedy improvement of EU defence readiness

The Chairman of the EUAC Peeter Tali said that Estonia supported the main goals of the Omnibus, which consisted of reducing bureaucracy and speeding up the procurement proceedings in the defence sector. “We fully agree that for the development of the defence industry and increasing defence capability, the processes here should be simpler and faster, the regulatory burden lighter, and the EU law must be adapted to the needs of the defence readiness,” Tali elaborated.

The Committee decided to amend the positions after taking into account the proposals of the National Defence Committee. This prompted the clarification that the weapons banned by universally recognised international weapons conventions can remain outside the investment framework, but only if the Member State has joined the relevant convention. “This clarification is necessary because Estonia has cluster munition, which is why we have not joined the Oslo Convention and have also left the Ottawa Convention that bans anti-personnel mines,” Tali explained.

The Committee also added a new clause to the position, which says that Estonia supported a simpler, faster, and more transparent procedure for producing, exporting, and transiting munition in the European Union.

Estonia’s positions say that it is important to speed up investments into the technological and industrial basis of Estonia’s defence industry and to achieve the necessary production capacity to prevent war but be prepared for it. With all this, Estonia still continues to emphasise the promotion of cross-border cooperation, common development of the EU defence market based on competition, as well as respecting the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises.

At the sitting of the Committee, the positions of the Government on simplifying the EU Defence Readiness Omnibus (Omnibus V) were presented by the Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur. The European Union Affairs Committee decided to approve the positions of the Government by consensus, taking also into account the opinion of the National Defence Committee.

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
+372 631 6592; +372 510 6179
merilin.kruuse@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: The Riigikogu amended the national positions in the interest of a speedy improvement of EU defence readiness

Source: Parliament of Estonia