News

Actions to contribute to European Defence

04. Mar 2022

On 15 February 2022, the European Commission published a roadmap with several initiatives in areas critical for defence and security within the EU.

This roadmap is aimed at the following goals:

• Identification and R&I support of technologies critical to EU security and defence
• Increased consideration of defence aspects in civil European R&I funding programmes as well as in industrial and trade policy, with possible civilian use in defence programmes
• Strategic and coordinated approach to the promotion of critical security and defence technologies for the optimal use of European and national funding programmes
• Establish synergies between civilian and military R&I communities and reduce strategic dependencies on external sources
• Broad coordination with other like-minded partners, such as the United States and NATO, under mutually beneficial conditions

To achieve these goals, Member States should, inter alia, contribute actively to the Observatory of critical technologies currently being established, and develop an EU-wide coordinated approach to critical technologies in the context of the Strategic Compass. Furthermore, dual-use research and innovation will be promoted at EU level and an EU Defence Innovation Scheme will be established together with the European Defence Agency (EDA).