This report outlines policy recommendations from a roundtable convened on 4 December 2025 by Science|Business in partnership with Emergent where public health, medical preparedness, civil protection, defence, and security experts explored how Europe can better integrate biological preparedness into its defence and security agenda and practical steps towards a more coordinated European approach to crisis preparedness.
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Amid rising geopolitical tensions, defence and security have moved to the top of the EU agenda. Beyond conventional warfare, states must now prepare for cyberattacks, pandemics and bioterrorism. With COVID-19 still fresh in memory, public health resilience should be a core component of security strategies. Although national and EU budgets remain focused on military readiness, biodefence and biosecurity are gaining prominence in EU policy rhetoric. In June 2025, NATO allies set new targets of 3.5% of GDP for core defence and 1.5% for defence-related infrastructure, resilience and civil preparedness.
However, it remains unclear which budget lines will fund biological countermeasures or how military and public health services will cooperate. Despite progress in medical preparedness, health efforts remain siloed and responsibilities for biological security are unclear at both EU and national levels. Bridging gaps between public health preparedness and defence planning through coordinated surveillance, joint training, aligned procurement and sustained R&D support is essential to structurally integrate cross-border health threats into defence policy.
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