Reframing Civil–Military Relations in the EU: Insights From the Drone Strategy 2.0

In November 2022, the European Commission presented its Drone Strategy 2.0 with two main objectives: to build the European Union's (EU's) drone service market and to strengthen the Union's civil, security and defence industry capabilities and synergies. From the Commission's perspective, accelerating the integration of drones in Europe's airspace has the potential to enable progress on numerous policy objectives, such as the green transition, urban mobility, industrial renewal and cutting-edge R&D in the civil–military domain. In this commentary, though, we argue that the Strategy is indicative of wider contemporary trends in EU policy-making regarding cross-cutting policy agendas, industry-centred R&D ambitions and the identification and promotion of infrastructural goals enabling further civil–military co-operation. These tendencies capture the growing importance of dual-use technologies, both in society at large and in the security and military domains. This is particularly relevant in the current European context of growing military expenditure with the war in Ukraine.