Creating synergies between the European civil, defence and space industries

The Commission has presented an Action Plan to enhance synergies and cross-fertilisation between civil, defence and space industries. In a challenging international environment, Europe needs to maintain and gain a greater technological edge. The significant scale-up of EU investment in technologies between 2021 and 2027, creates opportunities for synergies among the different programmes and instruments that can reinforce innovation and exploit the disruptive potential of technologies in the interplay of these industries.

EU funding delivered through programmes and instruments in the 2021-2027 EU budget represents opportunities to improve efficiencies, including the cross-fertilisation of industries. It also opens a window to reinforce European innovation by exploring and exploiting technologies at the interface between the civil, defence and space industries, such as artificial intelligence, cloud and quantum computing.g.

There are many great examples of cross-fertilisation between the civil, defence and space industries. Probably the most emblematic example in Europe is the three-point seat. After having worked on ejector seats in fighter jets for a European company, a Swedish mechanical engineer called Nils Bohlin, designed a new three-point seat belt for a European car company based on the four-point harness the jet pilots used. The three-point seat belt became a global standard in the car industry and has saved millions of lives since its introduction.

The main goals of the Action Plan are to:

• Enhance the complementarity between relevant EU programmes and instruments covering research, development and deployment to increase efficiency of investments and effectiveness of results (the synergies)
• Promote that EU funding for research and development, including on defence and space, has economic and technological dividends for European citizens (the spin-offs), and
• Facilitate the use of civil industry research achievements and of civil-driven innovation in European defence cooperation projects (the spin-ins)

With these goals in mind, the Commission announces eleven targeted actions that focus on the interplay between civil, defence and space industries. In particular, they:

• create a framework that enhances synergies and cross-fertilisation among all relevant EU programmes and instruments, for example in the field of digital, cloud and processors
• frame in a systematic and consistent way the development of critical technologies with first the identification of critical technologies and future capability requirements and then the development of technology roadmaps. Finally, the launch of flagship projects aims to reduce dependencies, foster standardisation and interoperability, stimulate cross-border cooperation, create new value chains and answer to societal and EU strategic needs
• support, throughout the Union, innovation from start-ups, Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs) and Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs), by facilitating their access to new opportunities, including by setting up an ‘innovation incubator’ network
• prepare for the launch of three flagship projects with the potential to become game changers: drone technologies, enhancing the competitiveness of EU industry in this critical technology area with a strong defence dimension, a space-based secure connectivity that should provide for a resilient connectivity system and high-speed connectivity for everyone in Europe based on quantum encryption; and space traffic management, required to avoid collision events that may result from the proliferation of satellites and space debris, while ensuring an autonomous access to space.

While the remit of this Action Plan is limited to EU programmes and instruments, it may also trigger similar positive synergetic effect at national level due to co-funding by Member states of EU projects. The transatlantic partnership and cooperation with other like-minded countries can support EU efforts in this area.

On 9 November 2022, the European Commission presented its first progress report for the implementation of the Action Plan as part of a ‘security and defence package’. According to the report, implementation of the action plan has progressed well based on a ‘whole-of-government’ approach with more than 30 Commission departments and agencies taking part in its implementation in addition to the European Defence Agency and the European External Action Service. The action plan produced results and often launched new measures. This work also identified constraints that still prevent fully exploiting potential synergies, so measures are currently being considered to address this.

Key findings show that 6 actions in the 11-point-plan will be completed by the end of 2022, including 3 flagship projects on EU drones technologies, space-based global secure communications system and space traffic management. 2 actions were integrated into the Defence Innovation Scheme that was announced in a subsequent Communication (the Roadmap for Critical Technologies on Security and Defence). Another three actions constitute long-term actions that have advanced considerably.

There are many synergies between the civil and defence industries. Beyond the action plan, several new initiatives were launched and more will follow. These include the security and defence packages of November 2022 and 2023, the European Chips Act, and funding for industrial R&D projects that build on civil-defence synergies. Interlinkages exist with the implementation of:

• the 2020 EU Cybersecurity strategy
• the 2021 updated industrial strategy
• the February 2022 defence package and the space package
• the 2022 Strategic Compass (especially the ‘Invest’ and ‘Secure’ chapters)
• and the 2022 analysis of defence investment gaps

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