Proposal for a New Law on Defence and Security Procurement in Norway

In October 2024, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence established a law committee to draft a new law on defence and security procurement. The proposal was submitted on 5 September 2025.

CMS was represented on the six-member committee by Alf Amund Gulsvik, Co-Head of the CMS Aerospace & Defence International Focus Group, based in the Oslo office.

Currently, defence and security procurement in Norway is regulated similarly to other procurement areas - through a brief act of parliament supplemented by an extended regulation adopted by the cabinet. The committee was tasked with creating a comprehensive new law to be adopted in full by parliament.

A key part of the committee’s mandate was to better integrate procurement legislation with the law on secrecy. The overarching goal of the proposal is to streamline procurement processes and adapt them to the current security landscape.

Key elements of the proposal include:

• Raising the national threshold for procurement.
• Revising the statutory objectives.
• Introducing more detailed provisions for incorporating social and environmental considerations.
• Clarifying regulations related to information and supply chain security.

The report also offers guidance on how to effectively support research and development, not only through improved regulation, but also by structuring the process to include initial research, subsequent development and the full lifecycle of procurement.

The proposal aims to implement the EU Defence Procurement Directive (2009/81/EC) more directly than in Norway’s current framework.

In addition to the proposed legislation, the 555-page report provides extensive guidance on the use of EEA Article 123 (analogous to TFEU Article 346), which allows for exemptions in defence procurement under certain conditions.

The committee also examined ways to accelerate procurement processes. It concluded that the current regulations are not the primary barrier to speed; rather, internal budgetary guidelines are the main limiting factor.

Finally, the Ministry of Defence is in the process of finalizing updates to its internal procurement regulations.