On 27 May 2027, Advisor Vincent Klein Ikkink delivered a contribution on behalf of CESAER at the European Research Security Conference (ENCORS) 2026 organised by CESAER Member TU Delft, focusing on how European framework programme negotiations may reshape the governance of dual-use technologies, defence-relevant research and research security from the perspective of universities of science and technology.
The session, titled “Science in Strategic Competition: Dual Use, Defence, and Research Security”, brought together around 50 stakeholders to discuss how Europe can strengthen strategic technologies and resilience capacities while preserving openness, academic freedom and international scientific collaboration.
The session was organised and moderated by Leo Eigner, Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at CESAER Member ETH Zürich. The other speaker in the session was Noah Stanton, Advisor for Research at Swisscore, who focused his presentation on the system level implications of the dual-use discussions in Europe.
Vincent contributed a university of science and technology perspective on the growing role of dual-use considerations in European research and innovation policy, with a particular focus on FP10 and the future relationship between civil-focused and defence-oriented EU programmes.
Vincent highlighted that one of the central challenges in current EU discussions is the growing conceptual and operational ambiguity surrounding the term “dual-use”. He explained that the concept is increasingly and simultaneously being used for different functions such as legal compliance, strategic funding design, ethical evaluation and governance purposes, despite these requiring different governance logics and implementation approaches.
In this context, he stressed the importance of clearer legal and operational distinctions between “dual-use controlled” as a compliance category and dual-use potential as a broader strategic pathway. He noted that while many technologies may evolve across civil and defence applications over time, governance frameworks should remain sufficiently clear, proportionate and workable for universities and researchers operating across international research ecosystems.
In his intervention, he stressed that many strategically important technologies — including AI, quantum technologies, semiconductors, cyber technologies and space technologies — have relevance across both civil and defence domains. He argued that, beyond its specific meaning in legal compliance frameworks, dual-use should be understood as a strategic pathway rather than a binary category. The key governance question is therefore not whether a technology is dual-use, but the degree of defence-relevance it may have in specific contexts and what proportionate safeguards, restrictions and funding pathways are appropriate in a given context.
Referring to CESAER’s recently published input note ‘Clarifying and optimising civil, dual-use and defence research and innovation in future EU funding programmes’, Vincent underlined that the challenge is not whether dual-use exists within European research and innovation. It clearly does. Universities of science and technology and the wider R&I ecosystem have long operated across the civil–defence continuum, reflecting the reality that many strategically important technologies have both civil and defence relevance.
The real challenge is how Europe governs these pathways coherently and effectively without creating unnecessary conceptual ambiguity, legal uncertainty or operational complexity.
Vincent noted that overly broad interpretations of dual-use risk placing civil-focused research under disproportionate governance requirements, even where activities remain at low levels of defence-relevance, potentially restricting openness, international collaboration and scientific agility without necessarily improving security outcomes.
Vincent further emphasised that the debate should not be reduced to a simplistic opposition between openness and security. In many cases, openness and security can be mutually reinforcing when research security measures remain proportionate, risk-based and compatible with academic freedom, researcher independence and responsible international scientific collaboration.
From the perspective of universities of science and technology, he highlighted that current FP10 discussions increasingly raise practical implementation questions around:
Vincent welcomed efforts to strengthen Europe’s strategic capacity and resilience, while cautioning that stronger synergies between civil and defence-oriented programmes should not lead to unclear programme objectives, blurred governance boundaries or disproportionate administrative burdens for university staff.
He also stressed that dual-use governance frameworks should avoid both:
Finally, he emphasised the importance of ensuring that researchers and universities have the academic freedom, institutional autonomy and support needed to pursue excellent research responsibly and safely, with safeguards that remain proportionate to the risks and context involved.
In conclusion, Vincent underlined that CESAER recognises that Europe requires stronger strategic and defence-relevant innovation ecosystems in the current geopolitical context. However, delivering this successfully will depend on ensuring that governance frameworks remain clear, proportionate, differentiated and operationally coherent, while preserving openness, excellence and academic freedom within Europe’s research and innovation system.
CESAER therefore calls for governance approaches that maintain sufficient legal clarity, preserve clear distinctions between civil-focused and defence-oriented programme logics where appropriate, and allow dual-use technologies to evolve across strategic pathways without creating unnecessary ambiguity and administrative burden for universities and researchers.
Vincent recalled that CESAER’s input note established an explicit measure of success for EU action: to maximise excellence, speed and integrity across outcomes in all domains, from civil-focused to defence-oriented research and innovation.
For more information, please contact our Advisor for Research Vincent Klein Ikkink.
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