The pilot project symbolises a new institutional working method whereby the European Defence Agency manages defence research programmes on behalf of the European Commission. After delegating the pilot project to the Agency in November 2015, this will be a test case not only for the EU’s ability to finance vital defence research but to also prove to the member states that the EU can add value to national efforts on defence research.
Any future European Defence Research Programme may even eventually alter the way the EU develops defence capabilities. This is crucially important given the SDIP’s emphasis on having ‘the right capabilities, tools and structures to deliver more security for its citizens’.
[ EUISS – November 18, 2016 ]
