Keep defence and civil research separate, universities urge EU

University associations oppose proposal to drop ban on military applications in main EU research programme

Two university associations have urged the EU to keep its funding for defence and civil research separate, while two other groups have said the bloc has provided too little analysis of the options to offer an opinion.

In January, the European Commission set out various options for changing how the EU funds dual-use research, which has both civil and military potential. At present, only civil applications are allowed to be explored with funding from Horizon Europe, the EU’s main research and innovation programme, while the separate European Defence Fund supports military R&D.