Ownership Transparency and Strategic Control in the European Defence Industrial Base
How EDIP, SAFE, and EU Foreign Investment Screening Are Reshaping the Governance of Private Capital in the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base
20 pages · PDF · 12 March 2026 · Licensed single-user copy, watermarked to the buyer
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About this report
In the European defence industrial ecosystem, the question of who owns defence companies has become inseparable from the question of who can legitimately participate in the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base.
The acceleration of defence industrial policy since 2022 has shifted the regulatory focus from traditional market concerns toward structural questions of control, influence, and security of supply. As European governments attempt to rebuild industrial capacity for large-scale warfare while reducing strategic dependencies, ownership structures are no longer treated as neutral corporate matters.
Key questions this report answers
- Why has the question of who owns defence companies become inseparable from legitimate participation in the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base?
- How do ownership transparency and ultimate beneficial ownership requirements reshape defence-industrial policy since 2022?
- How do foreign direct investment screening and private-equity governance affect control over strategic technologies?
- What are the industrial consequences for defence SMEs and the strategic implications for European defence finance?
Inside this report
- Strategic Context
- The European Defence Industrial Policy Architecture
- Ownership Transparency and Ultimate Beneficial Ownership
- Foreign Direct Investment Screening and Strategic Technologies
- Private Equity Investment and the Governance of Global Capital
- Financial Adaptation Strategies in the Defence Investment Market
- Industrial Consequences for Defence SMEs
- Strategic Implications for European Defence Finance
Who it's for
Strategy, corporate-development and investment teams that need an ecosystem-level view — budgets, industrial capacity and technology landscapes — before committing capital or capacity.
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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 (12 March 2026). You receive a 20-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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