The Council and the European Parliament today reached provisional political agreement on the proposal to establish the programme for agile and rapid defence innovation (AGILE), a new €115 million instrument designed to provide rapid, agile and targeted financial support to small and medium-sized ent
Today’s agreement ensures that the EU supports SMEs across the EU to be at the centre of defence innovation.
SMEs are the engines of technological break-through in critical defence domains in Europe but need support to move from prototype to operational capability. AGILE answers this need.
The successful adoption of the AGILE Regulation demonstrates what can be delivered when the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission work together towards a common objective. In the current security environment, Europe must foster innovation faster and translate technological excellence into operational capability.
Helen McEntee, Minister of Defence of Ireland
The programme was designed to stimulate innovation with fast-track grants and access to testing and certification. It provides a way for member states to be involved in setting challenges to ensure the products developed met member states’ capability needs. It simplifies procurement of products supported by AGILE.
The co-legislators worked constructively and pragmatically together to ensure that this pioneering programme can be implemented and operational within months. AGILE will accelerate defence innovation among SMEs across the Union and demonstrate that SMEs and start-ups can provide the technological solutions to Europe’s capability needs and play a role in reducing Europe’s strategic dependencies. This will help make the case for increased support to be directed towards SME innovation in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
Main elements of the agreement
The co-legislators reached agreement on the programme, which includes the following elements:
focus on SMEs and disruptive innovation: the agreement confirms the programme's focus on SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups working on emerging and disruptive defence products, including the adaptation of civil technologies for defence applications, to help bridge the gap between development and deployment
speed and scope maintained: the agreement keeps the fast-track, four-month time-to-grant envisaged by the Commission, reinforcing AGILE's role as a nimble complement to the EU's existing defence industrial toolbox
connection with defence industrial primes: the agreement will facilitate connection between SMEs with defence industrial primes including through dedicated matchmaking to increase uptake of AGILE supported products
access to testing: the agreement confirms fast-track access to testing and experimentation facilities to address a key barrier for SMEs in bringing products to market
Next steps
The provisional agreement must now be formally endorsed by the Council and the European Parliament before being submitted for legal/linguistic revision ahead of formal adoption by the co-legislator. Once adopted, the regulation will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The new programme remains on track to become operational from early 2027.
