Intergovernmental mechanisms for security and defense R&D funding in the European Union

The need to create a new technological base through joint efforts is well understood both in the EU member states and in the Union itself, but the situation has not changed at all for a long time. Over time, Member States have come to realize that instead of increasing funding that does not address inefficiencies in this area, it is necessary to reduce duplication of efforts to develop loosely coupled capacities, platforms and systems. Since 2016, at the level of the European Union, a sufficiently integrated system has been formed, which makes it possible to coordinate the actions of the member states on funding scientific research for defense needs, as well as, by identifying the highest priority research areas for all EU member states, to co-finance such research from the EU budget. The most striking examples of such measures are the European Defense Fund and the financing from it of projects of the member states, implemented in the framework of PESCO. Such measures are predominantly intergovernmental in nature, but contribute to the formation of a single European market for scientific research by stimulating cross-border research projects.

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