Working Paper “Analysis of the first R&D projects of the European Defence Fund”

On the 7th of June 2017, the European Commission officially launched the European Defence Fund (EDF), a programme for financing research on military products and technology. It was the first time that the EU earmarked resources to strictly military research. The Defence Fund is part of the process of militarisation begun by the EU several years ago.

Work began on drawing up the first EDF work programme in 2021. A call for projects was made and the list of those that had been approved was published on the 25th of January 2023. Out of the 142 projects submitted, 60 were selected, for which a budget of €1,166 million was allocated. This paper ellaborated by Centre Delàs for Peace Studies with the collaboration of the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT) and the Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS) from International Peace Buraeu, gives a general overview of the approved projects and a more detailed description of fourteen of them.

Authors: Xavier Bohigas, Pere Brunet and Teresa de Fortuny

Read and download here the Working Paper in English, in Spanish and in Catalan.

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Working Paper “Analysis of the first R&D projects of the European Defence Fund”