Roadmap on critical technologies for security and defence

Summary:

Communication published by the European Commission on 15 February 2022, setting out a roadmap concerning critical technologies for security and defence. This is a contribution to the discussions in the framework of the EU's Strategic Compass.

Further information:

This roadmap on critical technologies for security and defence responds to a request from the European Council in February 2021 to outline a path for boosting research, technology development and innovation (RTD&I) and reducing the EU’s strategic dependencies in critical technologies and value chains for security and defence.

The Roadmap proposes a way forward for the EU and Member States to jointly reach the above mentioned goal, notably by:

• identifying technologies critical for EU security and defence, boosting them through European (RTD&I) programmes;
• ensuring that defence considerations are better taken into account in civilian European RTD&I programmes and industrial and trade policies, as appropriate, while possible civilian uses of technologies are also better considered in defence RTD&I programmes;
• promoting from the outset an EU-wide strategic and coordinated approach for critical technologies for security and defence, to make the best use of EU and Member States’ RTD&I programmes, achieve synergies between civilian and defence RTD&I communities and mitigate strategic dependencies from external sources;
• coordinating as much as possible with other like-minded partners, such as the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), under mutually beneficial conditions.

• Alternative Source 1

Official

European Commission: Press Release, 15/02/2022: Commission unveils significant actions to contribute to European Defence, boost innovation and address strategic dependencies https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_924

European Commission: Questions and Answers: Commission contribution to European defence in the context of the Strategic Compass (15 February 2022) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_22_925

European Commission: Space and defence press conference by Commissioner Breton (15 February 2022) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_1082

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