Investing in Europe’s Competitiveness: Improving European Defence Readiness

The Milken Institute, in partnership with Oliver Wyman, hosted a private roundtable during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 19, 2026. The question addressed by the roundtable was “How can the defence industry, private capital, and government work together to improve defence readiness in Europe?”

The roundtable highlighted that Europe’s defence readiness challenge is not primarily about funding levels alone but also about fragmented markets, outdated procurement models, a lack of supply-chain contingency financing, and insufficient integration across industry, government, and finance. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally altered the nature of modern warfare, underscoring the need for rapid innovation cycles, scalable production capacity, and new approaches to financing defence capabilities. Without structural reform, increased spending alone will not deliver meaningful readiness.

This document summarizes the roundtable session held during the World Economic Forum.