Commission updates EU defence products list to match 2026 military catalogue

The European Commission has rewritten the list of defence-related products whose transfer between EU countries requires a licence, replacing the annex to Directive 2009/43/EC with the updated Common Military List adopted by the Council on 23 February 2026. The change is made by Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/2325 of 10 July 2026, signed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series, on 19 October 2026, with EEA relevance.

Directive 2009/43/EC of 6 May 2009 simplifies the terms and conditions of transfers of defence-related products within the internal market. Its Article 13 requires the annex — the list of products falling within its scope — to correspond strictly to the Common Military List of the European Union, which the Council adopted on 19 March 2007 and has updated repeatedly since. The latest version was adopted by the Council on 23 February 2026 and published in the Official Journal (C/2026/1640, 13 March 2026), which obliged the Commission to bring the directive’s annex into line. Article 1 of the delegated directive therefore replaces the annex outright with the text set out in its own annex, a document running to 37 pages.

Twenty-two categories, from small arms to technology

The replacement annex keeps the established ML numbering and covers, in order:

• ML1 to ML3: small arms, smooth-bore weapons below and above 20 mm calibre, other armament above 12,7 mm, ammunition and fuze-setting devices.
• ML4 and ML5: bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles and other explosive devices; fire control, surveillance and warning equipment.
• ML6 and ML13: ground vehicles and components; armoured or protective equipment and constructions.
• ML7 and ML8: chemical, biological and radioactive agents and riot control agents; “energetic materials”, propellants, pyrotechnics and precursors.
• ML9 to ML12: vessels of war and special naval equipment; aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and aero-engines; electronic equipment and spacecraft; high-velocity kinetic energy weapon systems.
• ML14 to ML18: military training and simulation equipment; imaging and countermeasure equipment; forgings, castings and unfinished products; miscellaneous equipment and “libraries”; production equipment and environmental test facilities.
• ML19 to ML22: directed energy weapon systems; cryogenic and “superconductive” equipment; software; technology.

Reserved entries and cross-references

The list preserves its practice of keeping dormant positions in place rather than renumbering: several sub-items are marked “Not used since” a given year — 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2019 — so that the numbering of active entries stays stable across editions. The annex also carries three general notes, including a definition of the “EU Dual-Use list” as Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of 20 May 2021, and a closing section of definitions of terms used in the list, from “space-qualified” and “sub-orbital craft” to “unmanned aerial vehicle” and “vulnerability disclosure”. Deactivation and certification processes are tied to the national authority of an EU Member State or of a Wassenaar Arrangement participating state.

Transposition deadlines for national authorities

Article 2 sets a tight calendar for the 27 national licensing regimes:

• Member States must adopt and publish the necessary laws, regulations and administrative provisions by 31 January 2027.
• They must apply those provisions from 5 February 2027.
• National measures must contain a reference to the delegated directive or be accompanied by such a reference on official publication.
• Capitals must also notify the Commission of the text of the main national provisions adopted in the field.

The directive enters into force on the twentieth day following publication, which places that date at 8 November 2026, and is addressed to the Member States. Recital 4 recalls the Joint Political Declaration of 28 September 2011 on explanatory documents, under which Member States undertook to accompany transposition notifications with correlation tables where justified.

The practical effect is a single, synchronised cut-off: from 5 February 2027 the same catalogue of items will define the perimeter of intra-EU transfer licensing in every Member State, so manufacturers and exporters whose products sit near an ML boundary should check their classification against the February 2026 list rather than the previous edition. National licensing authorities, in turn, have a little over three months from entry into force to align their application forms, general licences and IT systems with the new annex.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 2026/2325, 19 October 2026, Legislation (official reference: Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2026/2325; ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir_del/2026/2325/oj).