Biodefense is no longer a niche health issue. It sits at the intersection of public health, security, and economic resilience. Europe faces biological threats from natural outbreaks, hostile actors, and technological misuse. How we prepare will determine not only how we protect lives, but how resilient and autonomous Europe is in a crisis.
What should the next EU budget focus on?
Paul Chaplin: The next EU budget needs to treat biodefense as a core security priority.
Stockpiling medical countermeasures is essential. Preparedness cannot be improvised when a threat is already spreading.
Biological risks are now part of the wider security environment. Outbreaks can be exploited through disinformation, supply disruptions, or pressure on health systems. That means we need stable funding for preparedness that works every day and can scale fast in a crisis.
Preparedness cannot be improvised when a threat
is already spreading
Technology also changes the picture. Advances in biotechnology and artificial intelligence are powerful tools for medical innovation, but they also increase dual use risks. Europe should invest in common standards and safe innovation frameworks, so we stay competitive without increasing vulnerability.
Finally, the threat landscape is expanding. Climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and new surveillance capabilities all need to be part of how we think about biodefense funding
What did Europe learn from COVID 19?
PC: The main lesson is speed.
During COVID 19, delays in detection, data sharing, and early decisions were extremely costly. Biological threats move faster than traditional governance processes. Fragmentation weakens our response.
Another lesson is that preparedness must be permanent. Stockpiles, manufacturing capacity, and trained response teams must exist before a crisis starts. Relying on global supply chains for critical medical products leaves Europe exposed at exactly the wrong moment.
Europe must be able to stand on its own feet not only in trade and energy, but also in biodefense
COVID 19 also showed the value of innovation. Platform technologies allowed rapid development of vaccines and treatments. Europe has a strong pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector and investing in it is both a resilience measure and an economic opportunity.
How should the EU approach biodefense going forward?
PC: In the long term, Europe needs a more centralized EU approach potentially through a dedicated EU Biodefense Strategy which would be an ambitious but needed next step. That ambition, however, battles real structural and political constraints as health and security remain national responsibilities.
That reality will not change overnight and limits the EU’s ability to mandate coordination rather than encourage it. Agencies such as ECDC and HERA play critical roles, but their mandates are constrained, sometimes overlapping.
Still, the direction is clear. Europe must be able to stand on its own feet not only in trade and energy, but also in biodefense. A stronger, more self-reliant Union ultimately benefits all member states by reducing collective vulnerability and increasing strategic autonomy.
Biodefense is not a future problem. It is a present responsibility and a defining test of Europe’s capacity to act together in an increasingly complex world.
About Bavarian Nordic
Bavarian Nordic is a global vaccine company with a mission to improve health and save lives through innovative vaccines. We are a preferred supplier of mpox and smallpox vaccines to governments to enhance public health preparedness and have a leading portfolio of travel vaccines. For more information, visit www.bavarian-nordic.com
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