Europe’s Defence Readiness Starts in its SMEs

Europe's security depends on more than military strategy, it also depends on industrial strength.

This was the core message delivered by Orgalim Deputy Director General Olivier Janin this at the European Forum for Manufacturing debate on 'The Multiannual Financial Framework: Defence and Resilience,' highlighting that there can be no credible defence without a strong industrial and technological base.

Orgalim members include manufacturers of advanced machinery, robotics, sensors, electronics, cyber-secure systems. These dual-use technologies form the backbone of Europe's defence capabilities. They also bridge civil and military applications, creating both cost efficiencies and faster innovation cycles.

Industrial competitiveness and defence resilience are inseparable. A competitive industrial ecosystem ensures that Europe can scale production rapidly, maintain critical skills, and keep intellectual property and value chains within its borders. The next Multiannual Financial Framework offers an opportunity to anchor that competitiveness through predictable funding, clear R&D pathways, and simplified rules for participation. This is essential for Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are central to Europe's technological base.

It is SMEs that often demonstrate the most flexibility and adaptability in many sectors, while also facing the heaviest administrative burden. Simplified access to funding, proportionate compliance rules, and fair intellectual property arrangements are essential to help them engage in defence projects. Europe must also prepare these firms to scale up production quickly in case of crisis, with fast-tracked access to finance, critical materials, and skilled workers.

Resilience also depends on secure supply chains. Europe's vulnerabilities in electronics, semiconductors, and raw materials cannot be ignored. Diversifying suppliers, expanding European production, and promoting circular approaches to critical materials are vital steps toward strategic autonomy.

Finally, policymakers must rethink the approach to the steel value chain. Measures designed to support producers must also consider downstream users - i.e. Europe's manufacturers. They rely on affordable, high-quality steel to build the technologies that power both the economy and defence.

If Europe aligns its industrial, technological, and defence agendas, its industries will deliver what they always have: innovation, resilience, and readiness. Europe's defence strength begins where its innovation happens - in its factories and laboratories.