By building synergies, the European Defence Fund promises a strong commitment to collaborative research and innovation in its new Work Programme.
On 30 March 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted its third annual Work Programme (WP) under the European Defence Fund (EDF), which allocates €1.2 billion to support defence collaborative research and development (R&D) projects and to promote innovation in European defence. The programme covers 34 topics and is structured around 4 thematic calls, as well as 3 calls focusing on disruptive technologies and SMEs. It supports competitive and collaborative defence projects throughout the entire cycle of R&D, fosters innovation, and incentivises the cross-border participation of SMEs.
Due to the rapidly changing geopolitical situation and a complex set of new threats in the EU, the WP aims to counteract the effects of a lack of investments in important research and capability development projects, as well the fragmentation of the European defence sector. The WP sets down a plan to assist in creating a more competitive and integrated European defence technological and industrial base, whilst also contributing to a strategic autonomy and freedom of action. The WP contains both calls to jointly develop strategic defence capabilities and technologies, as well as measures to promote defence innovation under the umbrella of the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS). This will help support innovative entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs to break through traditional entry barriers, bring ideas to the market and make a difference for EU security and defence.
One of the EDF WP’s priorities is supporting investments in European collaborative defence R&D projects. The WP targets defence technologies and capabilities in line with EU’s Strategic Compass, which was formally approved in 2022 to give the EU an ambitious plan of action for strengthening the EU’s security and defence policy. It allows consortia to apply for funding under calls for proposals, and offers support for R&D in the categories of generating and integrating knowledge, studies, design, system prototyping, testing, qualification, certification or increasing efficiency.
Through EUDIS, the EC aims to generate up to €2 billion in investments into defence innovation to support innovative entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs. With the new WP, EUDIS gradually introduces new support measures to strengthen the EU’s innovation ecosystem. In the 2023 EDF Work Programme, a budget of around €220 million is allocated to implement the three new EUDIS measures. These measures include: calls for the organisation of a series of defence hackathon events across Europe, calls that include financial support to organisations to support development of innovation test hubs, specific calls designed to support the further exploitation of EU civil-funded research to test its applicability to military end users, €20 million for defence equity facility, and matchmaking activities by the EC to accelerate business partnerships.
The WP also highlights the importance of studying and finding synergies between the EDF and other EU programmes, for example by including actions on synergies with the EU space policy. It emphasises the complementary nature of R&D efforts in the EU, thus also acknowledging the need conduct research that builds on existing R&D projects from Member States, civil programmes and ongoing NATO activities. This also includes ongoing efforts under Horizon Europe and the EU Space Programme.
The EDF is endowed with a budget of €7.953 billion for the period 2021-27. In this period, one-third of the budget will be allocated to funding collaborative defence research to address emerging and future security threats, and the rest of the budget will co-finance collaborative capability development projects. With the adoption of this WP, the EC will have invested more than €3 billion in the EDF since the EDF Regulation entered into force in May 2021.
Participation in the EDF calls by non-associated countries, which includes Switzerland, is possible but subject to the conditions laid down in Article 9 of the EDF Regulation. According to this, non-associated countries should not be eligible to be a recipient or subcontractor involved in an action. Exceptions arise where strict conditions relating to the security and defence interests of the EU and its Member States are fulfilled.