JRC Working Paper Series For a Fair, Innovative and Sustainable Economy, 16/2025
This paper examines how the European Union can strengthen its defence research and innovation (R&D) capacity to achieve open strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty. In light of geopolitical shifts and growing dependencies, it contrasts the EU’s fragmented and underfunded defence R&D landscape with the more centralized and dynamic U.S. system, particularly DARPA. Rather than replicating DARPA, the paper argues for cultivating a networked European innovation ecosystem rooted in high-risk, high-reward programmes, policy coherence, and strategic alignment with societal missions. Drawing from U.S. lessons, it proposes institutional, cultural, and governance reforms to foster transformative defence innovation in Europe.
KATTEL Rainer;
ENTSMINGER Joshua;
2025-09-10
European Commission
JRC142695
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC142695,
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