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Remarks by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen, High Representative/Vice-President Kallas, and Commissioner Kubilius, on the Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030

European Commission

Speech
Oct 15, 2025
Brussels

"Check against delivery"

Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen

Today, the college has adopted a vital roadmap that will guide us to European defence readiness by 2030, thanks to very concrete goals and milestones.

To be ready by 2030, we need to move now. We need to move fast. And we need to move together.

Let me start by thanking my colleagues, High Representative/Vice-President Kallas and Commissioner Kubilius, for the excellent work on this urgent topic. They will shortly share more details of the roadmap and our main projects.

On Monday, I had the chance to visit Kyiv together with the High Representative/Vice-President Kallas. The courage and determination of the Ukrainian people is truly amazing.

It also showed us, that the security deficit that has been running for decades in Europe can be caught up with swift actions. Strengthening Europe's defence also means standing firmly with Ukraine.

We have already taken big steps to secure peace in Europe, and to enable major defence investments.

After years of massive underinvestment in our defence, the White Paper has identified the main critical capability gaps, such as:

• Drones and counter-drones;
• Cyber;
• Artificial intelligence;
• Missiles;
• And ammunitions.

We have then proposed a massive defence package of 800 billion euro, in our ReArm Europe Plan / Readiness 2030.

Precisely to support our Member States and our defence industries, thanks to the activation of the national escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, as well as through our SAFE loan instrument.

That is what has happened already. In 2021 Member States invested 218 billion in defence. By this year, investments are estimated to reach €392 billion.

So our message is clear:

• Europe is stepping up;
• Europe is investing in its defence;
• Europe will be ready to defend itself.

But the European Council is right. We of course need to be able to measure our progress and we propose to do it annually.

We need clear objectives and milestones to close these capability gaps, to further accelerate defence investments across Member States, and to guide the EU's progress towards full defence readiness by 2030.

In the next MFF, we have proposed substantial increase in defence spending:

• Within the European Competitiveness Fund, defence and space would benefit from a window of 131 billion euro;
• Within the Horizon Europe, dual-use actions would be eligible for support from the 175 billion budget euro;
• And the European Innovation Council would be able to support innovation in critical technologies with focus on defence applications;
• In addition, the Military Mobility budget would increase to 17.65 billion euro.

Today we are proposing to the European council four initial European Flagships:

• The European Drone Defence Initiative;
• The Eastern Flank Watch;
• The European Air Shield;
• The European Space Shield.

Why these Flagship projects? Because our response needs to be a collective one.

Because an attack on one of our Member States is an attack on our entire Union.

These flagships will reinforce Europe's ability to deter and defend across land, air, sea, cyber, and space, while contributing directly to NATO capability targets.

European Council will make the decision and if the threat landscape changes, can add new European flagships.

Later this year, we will present two additional initiatives to support our Readiness.

Military mobility package in November.

And the technological transformation of defence industry, coming up later this year.

Military mobility is a crucial horizontal enabler to ensure European security and defence.

The White Paper identified over 500 'hotspot' projects for military mobility that needs to be addressed urgently.

Our objective is, that by end 2027, we will have an EU-wide military mobility area, with harmonised rules and procedures and a network of land corridors, airports, seaports, and support elements for troops and military equipment to move swiftly across the EU.

To ensure peace through deterrence, Europe's defence capabilities must also be ready for the battlefields of tomorrow.

Those that develop their own technologies will be the strongest and least dependent.

We want to make sure, that European defence industry is in the forefront of this work.

***

High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas

This roadmap for defence readiness is a plan to keep peace.

Over the next few years, there must be a major build-up of European defence capabilities. Russia has no capacity to launch an attack on the EU today, but it could prepare itself in the years to come. Danger will not disappear even if the war in Ukraine ends.

Member States identified nine capability areas, in line with NATO targets. The roadmap is a plan to fill these gaps, with clear goals, timelines, and indicators for work. The European Defence Agency will be instrumental in helping in this. It connects Member States, aggregates demand, provides advice, and links Member States to defence companies. Our aim is that by 2030, all the current shortfalls are filled.

Member States are in the driving seat. It is the Member States who decide what to procure or develop, when, and from whom to procure. Only by working together, we can address the most demanding capability shortfalls.

This is why we propose that Member States work together in coalitions where the Member States cannot work alone because nobody is big enough. The work has already started. This week the first meeting on drones took place with the Netherlands and Latvia in the lead.

Drones are already redefining warfare. Having drone defences is no longer optional for anyone. Today we propose a new anti-drone system to be fully operational by the end of 2027. This will be done, of course, in close cooperation with NATO.

Every country is at risk. Every Member State should be investing in counter-drone systems and capabilities to hit ground targets. That is why we consider that this a 'flagship' project.

Eastern Europe bears the brunt of the threat and this needs particular attention. Eastern Flank Watch will bring all the capabilities needed to defend this part of Europe together: counter-drone systems but also ground defence, air defences, maritime, and border management. The goal is to have this ready by 2028.

One hurdle that we must overcome is joint procurement which is still far too low. So, we are upping the ambition to 40% of defence spending by 2027. Economies of scale can help our industries ramp up production and also lower costs for countries. The tax players will thank us for this.

And finally, Ukraine is still Europe's first line of defence. That is why security guarantees for Ukraine are also part of the roadmap. The strongest security guarantee is a strong Ukrainian defence industry and a strong Ukrainian army. So here we also set milestones, including establishing a drone alliance with Ukraine by early next year. Ukraine's drone defences are world class. We were just with Executive Vice-President Virkkunen in Kyiv this Monday, also visiting drone factories. It is incredible what they are doing. We have to use their experience from the battle ground, but also their innovation to build on it together.

There are also important elements on financing, creating an EU-wide market for defence equipment and industry.

***

Commissioner Andrius Kubilius

Roadmap - is the revolutionary strategic architectural plan of the major EU building exercise to build European Defence Readiness 2030.

It is like building European Defence Dome. Defence Dome for Peace. If you want Peace - prepare for Defence and Detterence.

Ursula von der Leyen, on October 14 2025, said; "It is imperative that when it comes to our own defence posture, we are coordinated, we are precise and we are fast." That is what Roadmap is about: how to be coordinated, to be precise and to be fast.

It demands mobilisation of all the efforts and all the available finances - at national and on EU level.

Roadmap indicates: Europeans are going to invest till 2035 - 6.8 trillion euro. Into real defence 50% - 3.4 trillion euro. It is a real Big Bang - mainly based on national defence spending, which will be 100 times bigger than EU defence spending.

We want to achieve Defence Readiness before 2030. Because of Putin's plans. To deter aggression, prevent war, preserve peace.

In order to achieve Defence Readiness 2030, we need to reach new NATO capability targets before 2030. Now we are at the level of 50% of those targets.

In order to achieve that, now we need to move from the Opportunities stage into Delivery stage. Until now we were creating Opportunities (financial, industrial policy, legal, simplification opportunities), now we need to move into Delivery: contracts, production, modernisation, procurement.

Roadmap is a Roadmap for Delivery, is a Mega Plan for Delivery: with clear timetables, goals and reporting obligation. That is why we can call today a 'Delivery Day', a 'D Day' for Delivery. This Plan and reporting on progress is how we are going to mobilise ourselves, Member States and EU institutions, to deliver.

The roadmap is about Delivery Planning, and about Delivery of Flagships.

What we are creating with the Roadmap - is European self-sufficiency in defence. Self-sufficiency in defence means Independence, as the Commission President says.

Self-sufficiency means:

• Our capacity to produce enough;
• Our own capacity to modernise defence production;
• Our capacity to finance European production and growth of European defence industry.

Flagships are an exercise to implement pan-European defence projects. Till now only in Space we have good experience to implement big pan-European high-tech projects. In defence there is no such an experience. That makes us weaker. We shall go through 'learning by doing' process - I am sure that this time we shall be much more successful than previously.

'European Drone Defence Initiative' and 'Eastern Flank Watch' are the projects which can be started immediately in order to learn how to create success. They can be realised together with Ukraine. I am sure that other two flagships - 'Air and Missile Defence Shield' and 'Space Defence Shield' will be a real success.

Ukraine deserves our support. Roadmap has a promise - Reparation Loan will be realised before the end of 2025. And Ukraine is ready to help us with its know-how and battle tested experience. We are building European Defence Dome together.

In building the European Defence Dome we need to overcome fragmentation of European defence industry and we need to spend taxpayers' money in the most effective way in order to strengthen European defence industry.

Incentivisation for joint procurement can cut prices for defence production by 30%. The plan is to increase joint procurement from 20% to 40% by the end of 2027. Taking into account all Defence investment up to 2035, it can save up to 200 billion euro for national governments and taxpayers.

Incentivisation to spend more defence money with the European defence industry can bring back with each additional 10% spent in Europe an additional 150 billion euro spent with our defence industry, which otherwise would be spent in third countries up to 2035. Now we are spending around of 40% in Europe, we want to increase this up to 55%.

There are also very ambitious goals on Military mobility and Single Market in defence equipment.

Implementation of the Roadmap is giving a very heavy tasks and mandate to Commission, other EU institutions and Member States, which will demand huge efforts on our side to deliver. And I am sure that we shall deliver Defence Readiness 2030.