Expanding the EU’s Security Perimeter: Critical Infrastructure as Strategic Assets
The European Union is redrawing the foundations of its security architecture. Energy grids, transport networks and digital infrastructures are no longer treated as technical systems, but as strategic assets whose stability shapes deterrence, autonomy and economic continuity. Since 2022, this shift has moved critical infrastructures to the centre of EU security and defence planning, redefining what resilience means and determining where political attention, regulation and public funding are concentrated. The implications for industry are immediate: demand signals, investment priorities and compliance requirements are being reorganised around a new understanding of vulnerability and strategic exposure.
This report analyses how infrastructures once considered operational back-office functions have become essential components of Europe’s strategic posture. It connects each policy change to official EU texts, regulatory initiatives and high-credibility institutional analyses, offering a documented reconstruction of the framework that now governs energy, transport and digital systems. No conjecture, no generalities — only verifiable evidence, precise references and a clear mapping of how the Union’s strategic logic is evolving.
For institutions, operators and investors active in these sectors, understanding this shift is no longer optional. The report clarifies the criteria now used to classify assets as critical, highlights where capacity gaps are emerging, and shows how firms across member states are repositioning in anticipation of new requirements. It also traces the changing geography of public funding, revealing which domains and countries are set to become priority recipients of the next investment cycles.
Europe’s approach to infrastructure is entering a new strategic phase. This report provides the facts, structure and analytical foundation needed to navigate it with clarity. Subscribe now for full access.