EU Faces Growing Pressure to Embrace Dual-Use Defence Research in FP10

Pressure is mounting for the EU to embrace dual-use research, as EU leaders include research and innovation in dual-use technologies in the 2024-2029 agenda for the first time. The Science, Research and Innovation Performance (SRIP) report , released by the Commission on 27 June 2024, highlights the need for the EU to take defence R&D more seriously.

While EU investment in defence has steadily increased over the past five years, most of the spending has gone on equipment. Meanwhile, funding for basic and applied research, as well as technology validation, has lagged behind. The SRIP report suggests that to reverse this trend, the EU should tap into the potential of dual-use technologies. However, policymakers and the research community have yet to agree on an acceptable approach.

A Commission white paper earlier this year, which outlined three possible approaches for managing dual-use technologies in the next framework research programme (FP10), raised concerns among researchers. Many wish to keep FP10 purely civilian or seek more clarity and debate on the issue.

The gap between the ambitions of the European Commission and member states like Poland, which support increased dual-use research, and the reservations of researchers, appears to be widening. Yet, the distinction between civil and military applications is becoming increasingly blurred.

The SRIP report points to a shift in defence innovation dynamics, with groundbreaking technologies now emerging from the private sector rather than the defence industry. Technologies initially developed for civilian purposes are quickly adapted to enhance military capabilities, marking a new era for defence.

However, the EU’s funding landscape contrasts with this shift. Horizon Europe and its predecessors have exclusively focused on civilian research, while the European Defence Fund was established to support defence-related research only. The Commission hopes greater coordination between these programmes could foster dual-use technology development in the future.

The SRIP report argues that broadening FP10 to include non-civilian applications could enhance synergies between civilian and defence research. This is evidenced by projects funded under Horizon 2020 that have shown dual-use potential in fields such as AI, quantum, biotechnology, IT, and robotics.

Many other areas could also be relevant, given that only 60% of research with dual-use potential was funded through Horizon 2020’s civil security section, suggesting that such projects are dispersed throughout the programme.

Given the range of research areas with dual-use potential, opening up the EU framework programme to dual-use research would significantly impact the design of FP10.

Now that dual-use research is part of the EU’s strategic agenda following the Commission’s efforts to review dual-use policies, researchers are being drawn into what has become a top-priority issue. Although some universities and research organisations are starting to engage with the European Defence Fund, research stakeholders may find the defence sector increasingly interested in FP10.