Abstract
This chapter builds on the theoretical and empirical insights of Edler and James (Res Policy 44:1252–1265, 2015) to examine the origins of the European Defence Research Programme (EDRP).
Edler and James (Res Policy 44:1252–1265, 2015) used a process tracing methodology to examine the emergence of the European Security Research Programme (ESRP) as part of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The case study shows that the emergence of the ESRP could only be understood by taking into account the policy entrepreneurship of the European Commission. In particular, the paper identifies the role of individual mid-ranking Commission officials who identified a window of opportunity to put the theme on the agenda and mobilized the political and financial resources of selected Directorate Generals of the European Commission. The policy entrepreneurs orchestrated the framing of this policy through managing ideational discourse and mobilizing existing and novel actor networks. In doing so the Commission gained the credibility to be the venue for science and technology policy in the area of security research. The paper also showed how the policy entrepreneurs used ambiguity in the definition of the meaning, scope and rationale for “security research” as a means of assembling a transnational coalition of interests and masking the initial cognitive and normative differences that existed between the various interest actors. The chapter will use process tracing to examine the origins of the EDRP. Specifically, the chapter will consider whether – following neofunctionalism (Haas EB, The uniting of Europe: political, social and economic forces 1950–57. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1958; Sandholtz W, Stone Sweet A (eds), European integration and supranational governance. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998; Stone Sweet A, Sandholtz W, Fligstein N (eds), The institutionalization of Europe. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001) – the EDRP is simply an instance of “spillover” from security research to defense research or whether other factors are at play.
Notes
- 1.
The European Union has funded projects of relevance to defense and security through its Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. The Commission has been keen to emphasize that there has always been an important “dual use” dimension to the Programme. Indeed, defense contractors such as Thomson CSF (now Thales) and GEC and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) were closely involved in the foundation of the Framework Programme, not least through the ESPRIT program (see Edler and James 2015).
- 2.
It should be noted that this chapter covers the period to December 2016. In December 2016, the European Council indicated its support for the European Defence Action Plan which included the so-called research window that contained proposals for a European Defence Research Programme (European Council 2016). There was still a considerable way to go until its introduction, and this includes the fundamental question of whether this program would be funded within a future Framework Programme or through another EU instrument.
- 3.
According to Baumgartner and Jones (1991), policy venues are institutional settings in which policies are taken up and binding policy decisions are made. The image of an issue consists of the dominant beliefs and values inherent in a policy, underpinned by rhetoric, symbols and evidence. Images, or issue frames, are more than a labeling of policy, as they convey causality and demarcate the policy issues. They influence interest definitions and political constituencies (Daviter 2007: 655) and shape advocacy coalitions (Sabatier 1998).
- 4.
The Kangaroo Group describes itself as “an association with the goal to enhance European unity around the pursuit of concrete common projects. Its main goals are the full implementation of the internal market, the stability of the euro and a common Security and Defence Policy. It is open to representatives of the European institutions, academia, media and the business community who are interested to foster these goals. The motto of the Kangaroo Group is free movement and security” (source: https://www.kangaroogroup.de Accessed 22 May 2017).
- 5.
The working group was chaired by Michel Barnier, then European Commissioner for Institutional Affairs and Regional Affairs. Barnier was to be an important figure in the emergence of the EDRP.
- 6.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016, and the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016.
- 7.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016.
- 8.
Questions of strategic competition in the transatlantic relationship remained close to the surface. In the late 2014, the United States announced its Defence Innovation Initiative as part of its so-called Third Offset Strategy in what was seen by some European policy-makers as another threat to European defense industrial and technological competitiveness. Further, there was growing discussion of the need for European “strategic autonomy” in defense technology versus dependence on other (read US) countries.
- 9.
EU defense research fell by almost 30% between 2006 and 2013 (Mauro and Thoma 2016: 7).
- 10.
Author telephone interview with a member state participant in EDA research meetings, September 2016.
- 11.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016.
- 12.
Personal correspondence with a member state participant in EDA research meetings, October 2016.
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
Michel Barnier was European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. In 2001, he chaired the Working Group on European Defence as a member of the Convention on the Future of Europe. In 2015, he was appointed by EU President Jean-Claude Juncker as his special advisor on defense.
- 15.
Personal correspondence with a member state participant in EDA research meetings, October 2016.
- 16.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016.
- 17.
Author interview with a European Commission official in DG GROW, December 2016.
- 18.
The six were France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain.
- 19.
Author interview with a European Commission official in DG GROW, December 2016.
- 20.
Author telephone interview with a member state participant in EDA research meetings; author interviews with a European Commission official in DG GROW, December 2016 and former official, ASD, May 2017.
- 21.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016.
- 22.
Author interview with a European Commission official in DG GROW, December 2016.
- 23.
Ibid.
- 24.
Personal correspondence with a former official, ASD, May 2017. The official added that “France had been trying for years to convince the EU on the merits of industry-led research”.
- 25.
Author interview with a former official, ASD, May 2017.
- 26.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016.
- 27.
Author interview with a former official, ASD, May 2017.
- 28.
Author interview with a senior executive, Airbus, February 2017.
- 29.
Author interview with a former official, ASD, May 2017.
- 30.
Author interview with an EU official close to the Group of Personalities, February 2017.
- 31.
The Pilot Project (PP) is an instrument envisaged under Article 54 of the European Union’s 2014–2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Pilot Projects support new policy initiatives for a maximum of 2 years and with funding limited to around €2 million.
- 32.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016.
- 33.
“A new start for Europe: my agenda for jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change”. There was no mention of defense R&D in the speech.
- 34.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016.
- 35.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016.
- 36.
Author telephone interview with a member state participant in EDA research meetings, September 2016.
- 37.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016.
- 38.
Since 2008, the EDA has produced a Capability Development Plan (CDP) to address European security and defense challenges that makes recommendations about the capabilities European militaries will need to react to those challenges.
- 39.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016; author interview with a European commission official in DG GROW, December 2016.
- 40.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016; author interview with a European Commission official in DG GROW, December 2016.
- 41.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016.
- 42.
Author telephone interview with a member state participant in EDA research meetings, September 2016.
- 43.
Author interview with the Defence Counsellor, Permanent Representation of a mid-sized member state, December 2016; author interview with a European Commission official in DG GROW, December 2016.
- 44.
Author interview with a former Commission official, December 2016.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Claire Coffey for her excellent assistance with the background research for this chapter and Jakob Edler who co-authored an earlier paper upon which Sect. 2.2 of this chapter draws. All errors and omissions remain my own.
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James, A.D. (2018). Policy Entrepreneurship and Agenda Setting: Comparing and Contrasting the Origins of the European Research Programmes for Security and Defense. In: Karampekios, N., Oikonomou, I., Carayannis, E. (eds) The Emergence of EU Defense Research Policy. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68807-7_2
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