Both European states and the European Union (EU) are trying to accelerate and support national rearmament and military modernization plans. As part of this, they are seeking to harness research and innovation from the civilian sector and increase engagement with actors beyond the traditional arms producers, including research organizations—whether universities, research institutes or ‘spin-offs’. This has led to increased funding for so-called dual-use by design research: research in which both civilian and military applications are considered and enabled from the outset. Efforts to incentivize dual-use by design research are largely under development and still being debated. It is therefore a good time to consider the questions raised by this shift. This topical backgrounder examines how the increase in dual-use by design research blurs the traditional distinction between publicly funded civilian and military research in Europe.
The growth of dual-use by design research in Europe: Export control risks and challenges
