EU reports on dual use give strategic direction for future research policy landscape, advocating for stronger synergies between defence and civilian research.
Only a few weeks ahead of the announcement of the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which includes the next framework programme for research and innovation (FP10) and the Competitiveness Fund, the European Commission published two complementary expert reports on dual-use Research and Innovation (R&I). The policy brief Making the most of EU research and innovation investments: Rethinking dual use, by the Expert Group on the Economic and Societal Impact of Research & Innovation (ESIR), advocates for adopting a ‘dual use by design’ approach to ensure Europe’s security, competitiveness, and prosperity. The independent expert report Unlocking the potential of dual-use research and innovation, commissioned by the Directorate General for R&I, then, offers insights with concrete examples and case studies on how dual-use R&I can work in practice, and its practical implications for Research Performing Organisations, SMEs, Start-ups, and Scale-ups. It also provides an overview of international benchmarks, providing a comparative analysis of dual-use R&I funding systems worldwide. In short, while the former publication offers the why, the latter one provides the how when it comes to dual-use R&I.
According to the ESIR Expert Group, it is time to rethink dual use in R&I policy, as dual use can have positive effects: it has the potential to increase productivity in research and enhance synergies between research and civilian research. The report also outlines that dual use in R&I can strengthen strategic autonomy and enhance Europe’s competitiveness and sustainability.
While the report highlights that “history shows that defence is one of the most powerful drivers of technological development and innovation”, the European research and framework programmes were mainly developed to serve peace. They included a civil research clause, avoiding a dual use approach, and provided funding for military use in another EU programme, the European Defence Fund. However, in the current times of war, geopolitical shifts, and the discourse of the EU on strategic autonomy, competitiveness and enhanced capability in security and defence, a cultural change has been initiated, allowing a transition towards the understanding of an increasing need for dual use.
In this sense, the report supports a ‘dual use by design’ approach, meaning that technologies are intentionally designed for both civilian and defence applications and integrated at early stages of research. Consequently, the Expert Group advocates that the upcoming R&I Framework Programme (FP10) and the European Defence Fund, should be better intertwined. New strategies are needed to increase the dual use potential while enhancing awareness of the new reality and related risks. Moreover, the importance of regulation, export control and responsible innovation, especially in sensitive fields such as AI, biotech, or quantum, is emphasised.
This new approach carries ethical implications, as security must be ensured to maintain public trust and support. Mandatory ethical governance actions and initiatives are necessary for individual projects, as well as regular dialogue between representatives of different sectors engaged in advisory bodies. Civil society organisations and independent ethics boards should be included to assess the potential societal and ethical impacts. Ethical governance must be ensured through independent ethics bodies within universities, research institutions, and governmental agencies to evaluate dual use projects and provide guidelines for responsible conduct.
When it comes to international cooperation, it is likely to lead to the establishment of different dual-use regimes for Member States, Associated Countries, like-minded countries, and others. This shift can be particularly relevant for non-EU member states such as Switzerland. Moreover, it is essential to keep in mind different types of research for international cooperation, thinking of research addressing global challenges that likely provide mutual interest in cooperation; security-related research, which is less convenient for collaboration due to mutual restrictions in cooperation with a need for risk assessments; and research regarding economic competitiveness, which needs a trade-off between the gains from knowledge inflow and the risk from knowledge outflow. Therefore, there will be a need to balance openness and security, keeping research open where risks are low and secure in sensitive areas.