Security research shall be actively coordinated with the activities of the European Defence Agency (EDA), expanding their cooperation beyond the already existing framework agreement on dual use-technologies.
The cooperation between the European Commission, EDA and the European Space Agency (ESA), defined in the so-called European Framework Cooperation (EFC), is intensified under Horizon 2020. In this way, European security research shall contribute to the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Also, the mechanisms for coordination with EU agencies such as Frontex, EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency) and Europol (European Police Office) shall be enhanced, the objective being to improve the coordination between EU programmes for internal and external safety and other EU initiatives.
The Directorate-General (DG) Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW) is primarily responsible for security research funding. In addition, the activities of DG Migration and Home Affairs, responsible for security-related agencies such as Europol or Frontex, are also of relevance. In the beginning of 2013, the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) has been established at Europol to coordinate the fight against cyber criminality, concentrating on fighting online fraud and online abuse of children as well as on protecting critical infrastructure and information systems.
Besides DG Enterprise and DG Home Affairs, activities of the following DGs may also be relevant for security issues:
- DG Communication Networks, Content and Technology
- DG Research and Innovation