Berlin Accelerates Defense: Green Light for a New Law to Streamline Military Procurement

Germany takes a decisive step towards strengthening its military capability. The German government has approved a bill aimed at simplifying and speeding up procurement procedures for Defense, as well as construction work on military bases. This is reported by the agency Reuters.

Faster Procurement and Less Bureaucracy

The new regulation provides for the relaxation of public procurement rules for defense contracts, with the possibility of avoiding public tenders in urgent cases. Furthermore, the most significant contracts will no longer need to be divided into smaller lots, thus streamlining the entire process.

The new limits set are:

• 50,000 euros (instead of 15,000) to initiate a formal procedure;
• 1 million euros for military construction projects;
• 443,000 euros for general goods and services.

The measure, designed to strengthen the operational readiness of the Bundeswehr, will remain in effect for 10 years.

“With this bill, we remove many of the constraints that have so far prevented us from acting more quickly,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
“We can finally focus on what really matters for the defensive capability and equipment of the Bundeswehr.”

A European Trend: Italy Tries Too

The German reform is not an isolated case: Italy also attempted to introduce new rules to speed up Defense procurement, focusing on greater flexibility and shorter times to strengthen the operational efficiency of the Armed Forces. However, the proposed amendment to the Infrastructure Decree was blocked by the no from the Lega and the oppositions, effectively derailing the initiative.

The new hoped-for model, based on innovative tools and simplification criteria, is described in our in-depth analysis:

-> "Security: Italian Defense Revolutionizes Procurement"

These attempts, despite political obstacles, confirm how Europe is trying to move in a coordinated way towards a structural strengthening of its military capability.

Brussels Pushes for European Rearmament

The German move aligns with the initiatives of the European Union. In June, the European Commission presented a proposal to accelerate the issuance of permits for projects in the Defense sector, reducing bureaucratic times from years to 60 days. It is also expected that each member state will create dedicated contact points to facilitate industrial investments.

Everything is part of the “ReArm Europe” plan, launched in March by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which aims to mobilize 800 billion euros to strengthen the European Defense industry and improve cooperation among EU countries.