The EU will adjust its merger rules for defence companies and give reassurances about their compliance with environmental standards, under a raft of measures aimed at easing investment in Europe’s arms industry.

The European Commission on Tuesday made the proposals aimed at attracting more investment in a defence sector previously shunned by some lenders wary of the reputational risk associated with the arms industry. Brussels warned that Europe needed to rapidly scale up weapons manufacturing to “prepare for and thereby deter a high intensity conflict” as Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine grinds on into its fourth year.

“We are sending a clear political signal: Europe is serious about defence,” said Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s vice-president in charge of security. “We are cutting through bureaucracy to help member states and industry act faster, invest smarter, and strengthen our collective deterrence.”