The European Commission has launched a plan to generate synergies among Europe’s defence, space, and civil sectors, with the European Union’s (EU’s) nascent European Defence Fund (EDF) expected to play a pivotal role in fostering disruptive and dual-use technologies for multi-sector applications.
The European Commission launched a defence, space, and civil synergy action plan on 22 February. (Getty Images)
“Ensuring strong synergies between defence, space, and civil technologies will generate disruptive innovations and allow Europe to remain a global standard setter,” Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for defence industrial policy, stated during a co-presentation of the plan on 22 February with Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for digital policy.
The 15-page initiative, Action Plan on Synergies between Civil, Defence and Space Industries, identifies the dual use and disruptive technologies that areused across all three sectors and considered vital for Europe’s future economic and strategic autonomy. These include autonomous systems, sensors (electro-optical, radar, chemical, biological, radiation, and others), cyber defence, secure ground- and satellite-based communications and networking, low-power microprocessors, printed and flexible electronics, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear technologies.
The plan sets out 11 actions for the European Commission to implement in the coming months to promote the synergies. For example, it said one priority for the EDF – which is setting aside 8% of its annual budget of EUR1 billion (USD1.22 billion) for disruptive technologies – should be cyber defence. Starting in June the Commission and member states will create the EU’s Cybersecurity Competence Centre to strengthen synergies between it, the EDF and the EU’s space programme on cybersecurity.
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