Defence innovation and the European Union’s Strategic Compass

Abstract

In March 2022, the European Union adopted a ‘Strategic Compass for Security and Defence’, a joint strategy to strengthen the bloc’s military capabilities by 2030. EU member states have long under-invested in research and development in their defence sectors and have proved less able than competitors such as China and the United States to adapt emerging and disruptive technologies for use in their armed forces. The changes that the Strategic Compass proposes in this area are incremental rather than transformative, which suggests that there is still not a strong European political consensus for increasing the pace of defence innovation.