The Union research defence program: state of affairs

In 2016, for the first time in their history, the European institutions decided to finance some actions in the field of defense research. This is a fundamental change in the Union's approach to European defense and may be a game changer, depending on the modalities that will be used to define the amount and the outline of the future European Defense Research Program (EDRP) as well as its relationship with the national defense planning and the European defense planning that appears to be emerging. Other important issues will also need to be addressed, such as the articulation of the European program with the capability programs and its overall governance. This Analysis, drawn up on the basis of a report to the European Parliament in March 2016, provides an update on the situation in the spring of 2017.