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Future of European Defence & SMEs

Working Lunch at the European Parliament, Brussels from 13:00 to 15:00

Welcome and Moderation

Horst HEITZ
Secretary General of SME Europe

Opening

Riho TERRAS MEP
Vice President of SME Europe, Chair EPP SME Defence initiative; Vice-Chair of SEDE Committee

Keynote

Simonas ŠATŪNAS
Head of Cabinet to Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space

Q&A / Debate

Closing

Riho TERRAS MEP

As negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028–2034) are under way, the EU faces a critical opportunity to move from fragmented and ad hoc defence industry support towards a coherent, long-term and predictable framework. This expert meeting will examine how the future EU budget and its instruments can better respond to the development needs of the European defence industry — from research and innovation to industrial scale-up, production capacity and supply-chain resilience. The discussion will also focus on how EU funding mechanisms can be streamlined to reduce administrative burden and red tape, ensure timely and effective access to support, and strengthen the role of SMEs in building a resilient, competitive and strategically autonomous European defence industrial base.

The publication of this document received financial support from the European Parliament. Sole liability rests with the author. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.