FDI Screening and Strategic Control in Europe’s Defence Industry
What has materially changed after the Defence Readiness Omnibus, and why clearance, eligibility, and control are now separate strategic variables
19 pages · PDF · 31 March 2026 · Licensed single-user copy, watermarked to the buyer
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About this report
Europe’s defence sector is entering a phase in which the question is no longer simply whether foreign capital can enter, but under what legal, political, and operational conditions that capital can remain commercially viable once it does.
The central tension is that the public and political environment increasingly suggests a progressive closure of the European defence industrial base to non-European ownership, while the binding legal architecture of investment screening remains largely national, fragmented, and only partially harmonised at Union level.
Key questions this report answers
- How does Europe's fragmented, largely national FDI-screening architecture govern the conditions under which foreign capital can enter and remain in the defence industrial base?
- What legal, political and operational conditions determine whether non-European ownership stays commercially viable after entry?
- How does the tension between political closure and only partially harmonised Union-level screening affect market participants?
- What signals should investors and firms monitor regarding strategic control and screening harmonisation?
Inside this report
- Opening
- Baseline
- Analytical findings
- Implications for market participants
- Signals to monitor
Who it's for
Bid, compliance and advisory teams working with EU defence funding and procurement instruments, and the counsel who support them.
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Methodology, format & delivery
DFM reports are built from primary and official sources — TED procurement notices, CORDIS and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIB operations, the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio, SIPRI data, official budget documents and company disclosures — read together with the underlying legal texts. Sources are cited in the document; it reflects them as of its publication date (31 March 2026). You receive a 19-page PDF, watermarked to you on every page, delivered on the confirmation page and by e-mail immediately after checkout (personal link valid 72 hours, up to 5 downloads). Guest checkout, single-user licence — Terms of Sale.
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