Private Capital in Defence: Strategic Opportunity or Regulatory Risk?

At a time when security, innovation and Europe’s strategic autonomy are becoming increasingly important, whatnext.law, in collaboration with the War & Law Lab, hosted the debate “Private Capital in Defence: Strategic Opportunity or Regulatory Risk?”, bringing together representatives from the financial, business and academic sectors to reflect on the challenges and opportunities associated with private investment in the defence industry.

The session featured a keynote speech by José Neves, President of AED Cluster Portugal, followed by a roundtable moderated by Ana Marta Castro, Partner at VdA Vieira de Almeida. The discussion brought together Luís Guimarães, Board Member of Banco Português de Fomento, Luís Parreira, Board Member of MGP and Lawyer, Marco Rafael Rodrigues, Head of the Defence Cluster at Santander Portugal, and Raul Marques, Executive Board Member of 3xP Global.

The event concluded with remarks from Felipe Pathé Duarte, Assistant Professor and Director of the War & Law Lab at NOVA School of Law.

Throughout the discussion, participants explored the key legal, regulatory and financial challenges associated with funding the defence industry, as well as the role private capital can play in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, innovation capacity and strategic resilience.

We would like to thank all speakers and attendees for their valuable contributions to what was a particularly timely discussion in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape.

📌 The event’s key takeaways are now available: Read the takeaways

📖 The 5th edition of the whatnext.law Insights Compendium is also available. This publication brings together the contributions developed throughout 2025 by the Research Fellows and Legal Movers of the research centre: Download the Compendium

Thank you to everyone who joined us. We look forward to continuing this discussion through future initiatives promoted by whatnext.law.