On Tuesday 7 December, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on Member States to invest more in defence research and technology (R&T).
“We need to do much more on defence innovation, and we need to do it together, and we need to do it now,” the High Representative pleaded at theEuropean Defence Agency conference. “We cannot wait. Either we invest a lot on defence innovation, or we will become defence irrelevant”, he warned.
According to Borrell, innovation will restructure the international security environment. “Those who gain a technological edge and set the standards will dominate the future”, he said.
“If we do not invest in R&T, we will not be able to create technologically advanced forces and we will lose our strategic advantage over our competitors and our interoperability with our partners”, the High Representative also stressed.
In his Strategic Compass, Mr Borrell proposes the creation of a defence innovation cluster (see EUROPE 12831/1). He also wants to see the creation of a network of defence innovation centres in Europe.
For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, explained in a video that it was necessary to ensure that the EU remained at the forefront of innovation. “This will ensure our future credibility and ability to act as a critical and autonomous actor and as a loyal and capable security and defence partner,” he said. According to him, the EU and the Member States need “more than ever” to better coordinate their efforts and pool resources.
In 2020, Member States spent €2.5 billion on R&T. That is just 1.2% of their total defence spending (see EUROPE 12847/14). The US spends at least $14 billion every year, Borrell said, adding that Google spends almost 10 times more on R&D than the Member States’ defence ministries spend on R&T. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)