The 2026 European Defence and Security Summit will take place at a moment when Europe’s security debate has shifted from defining ambition to implementing it. The contours of the threat environment are no longer theoretical. Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to reshape defence planning across the continent, hybrid pressure on infrastructure and democratic institutions persists, and geopolitical competition — including in the Arctic — is accelerating. Europe’s security architecture is being tested in real time.

In response, the policy framework is in place. The White Paper on European Defence and the Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030 have outlined a clear trajectory, while the European Defence Industrial Strategy, EDIP and the ReArm Europe Plan seek to translate commitments into industrial scale and deployable capability. Joint procurement, supply-chain resilience, ammunition production and air defence capacity are no longer strategic aspirations but operational imperatives.

Yet documents and funding envelopes alone do not generate deterrence. The decisive question is whether governance alignment, industrial scalability and alliance coordination can deliver credible readiness within compressed timelines. NATO–EU complementarity remains central, but Europe’s standing increasingly depends on its ability to shoulder greater responsibility and demonstrate tangible capability.

Against this backdrop, the Summit convenes leaders from EU institutions, Member States, NATO, industry and the armed forces to examine how Europe consolidates this transition. Its purpose is clear: to assess whether Europe can move from strategy-setting to sustained execution — ensuring that by 2030 its security posture is defined not by intent, but by readiness and delivery.