European regions and cities must play a central role in strengthening Europe’s security and defence, members of the EPP-CoR stressed during an exchange of views with MEP Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, EPP Group Coordinator in the European Parliament’s Security and Defence (SEDE) Committee, at an EPP-CoR Bureau meeting.
The discussion highlighted a shared sense of urgency: Europe is facing a turning point in its security architecture and must rapidly enhance its capabilities while ensuring strong regional involvement.
Olgierd Geblewicz, President of West Pomerania, underlined the reality of the current geopolitical moment from a frontline perspective. He stressed the need to rebuild Europe’s security architecture with European leadership and trusted partners, while accelerating the scaling-up of defence technologies. He also highlighted the key role regions can play in connecting local industries—including SMEs—to European defence initiatives.
Thomas Schmidt, Member of the Saxon State Parliament, stressed the importance of coherence between EU and NATO efforts: “We must be fast and avoid building parallel structures—European defence can only work together with partners.” He warned that duplicating frameworks would weaken effectiveness and highlighted the need to strengthen both military capabilities and civilian preparedness, including research, development and industrial capacity.
Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, called for an inclusive approach to Europe’s strategic autonomy: “Strategic autonomy must be built across all regions—every territory should be part of the process.” He emphasised that defence policy must go hand in hand with investments in infrastructure, energy and technology, and cautioned that new priorities must be properly financed without neglecting other key areas such as culture and social development.
Franck Proust, Vice-President of the EPP-CoR Group, argued that Europe must rethink its industrial approach: “It is not a question of money, but of mindset—we must change our approach in strategic industries.” He criticised Europe’s reliance on external suppliers despite its own industrial strengths and called for a stronger European preference in strategic sectors, alongside greater protection against politically driven foreign investments.
Sari Rautio, President of the EPP-CoR Group, highlighted the growing local impact of security challenges: “Security, defence, preparedness and resilience are no longer abstract European issues; they affect our regions and cities.” She underlined the importance of strengthening the regional dimension of defence policy, including through the EPP-CoR Working Group dedicated to defence.
MEP Nicolás Pascual de la Parte concluded by stressing that Europe must assume full responsibility for its security: “We are now in a position where Europeans must provide 100% of their conventional security with their own resources and capabilities.” He outlined the need to act within the next four to five years to build comprehensive defence capacities, covering military, cyber and civilian dimensions, while reinforcing Europe’s defence industrial base and increasing the share of European-made equipment.
The exchange confirmed a strong consensus: Europe must act swiftly and decisively, with regions and cities playing a key role in delivering security, resilience and industrial capacity on the ground.