Kubilius ahead of EDW: defence industry needs to reorient from ‘haute couture’ to ‘good enough’ production

European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius will speak at Estonian Defence Week 2026 this September in Tallinn, where European defence leaders, policymakers, military officials and industry representatives will gather to discuss Europe’s defence readiness, industrial scaling and security challenges.

“We currently face massive challenges to Europe’s security – Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine, the Iran war threatens the Southern and Mediterranean countries. At the same time our transatlantic allies are asking us to take more responsibility for Europe’s defence,” said Kubilius ahead of the event.

“Russia is not only ready to test NATO and EU borders, but also continues to outproduce us, in missiles, drones, tanks and more.”

According to Kubilius, Europe urgently needs to strengthen defence industrial cooperation and increase production capacity across the continent. “We need to overcome fragmentation of our defence landscape. Our defence industry needs to massively scale up production, reorienting from ‘haute couture’ to ‘good enough’ production.”

Kubilius also stressed the importance of stronger cooperation between EU Member States and Ukraine in building European defence capabilities. The EU is helping Member States increase defence industry cooperation with Ukraine through joint European defence capability projects (EDPCI flagship projects) as well as EDIP USI and EDF programmes.

Kubilius added that Europe’s defence industry needs predictable long-term demand and coordinated procurement efforts from European governments.

“Our Member States need to encourage production by placing big long-term orders for European defence industry, buy more, together, and European. To achieve that Member States can count on our support – with EU programmes such as EDIP and SAFE.”

Taking place from 21–25 September 2026 in Tallinn, Estonian Defence Week (EDW) will bring together more than 4,000 participants from over 25 countries, including defence companies, investors, military experts and political decision-makers. The programme includes the Tallinn Defence Expo, the Baltic Defence Conference ABCD, Defence Innovation Day, NOICE (NATO Open Innovation Conference and Expo) and multiple high-level industry and security events.

Estonian Defence Week is organised by the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Defence. The event focuses on strengthening cooperation between governments, armed forces, defence industry and innovators, while accelerating the transition from new technologies to operational capabilities.