EU considers its own DARPA to close technology gap with US and China

Calls are growing within the EU to establish a civil-military high-tech research agency modeled on the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is funded by the Pentagon.

With DARPA’s help, the US Department of Defense has been supporting high-risk research and development projects by private companies with both civilian and military applications since the late 1950s.

According to the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), a think tank, the US laid the foundation for its global IT dominance as well as its military superiority in this way.

Arguing that technological dependencies weaken the EU militarily and economically in the global power struggle, the EUISS stated that the EU therefore needs its “own DARPA.”

DARPA, the Cold War, and the militarization of technology

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, is an institution affiliated with the Pentagon that supports high-risk innovation research for the benefit of the US military.

According to the institution’s official website, it was founded in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union’s technological superiority in space travel. A year earlier, the Soviet Union had surpassed the US in the race to develop the first satellite, sending Sputnik 1 into space.

DARPA’s stated goal is to position the US as a “global leader in strategic technological innovation.” The agency notes that this involves “world-changing” military technologies that often have a lasting impact on civilian life as well.

DARPA has contributed to the development of the internet, GPS, precision weapons and stealth technology, automatic speech recognition and translation, mRNA vaccines, and SpaceX.

Today, for example, it promotes development and research in areas such as autonomous driving in urban areas and new rocket technologies.

Europe’s DARPA: Fear of falling behind the US, China, and Russia

In a recently published article, the Paris-based EUISS calls for the establishment of a “European DARPA” modeled on the US agency.

The document states that the EU’s “security and economic competitiveness” are declining, and pressure from Russia, China, and the US is steadily increasing.

Arguing that Europe should not allow its rivals to take the lead in the race for the latest technologies, the EUISS points to the need for a “dual-use technology explosion” that will bring about nothing less than the “fourth industrial revolution” to keep pace with major powers.

“Dual-use” refers to technologies with a dual purpose, both military and civilian. GPS navigation technology is one example.

The EUISS notes that the state-funded DARPA’s investments in high-risk private technology development not only create new weapons technologies but also provide “significant economic benefits,” such as the mass production of computers, smartphones, game consoles, and pacemakers.

According to the document, groundbreaking technological breakthroughs require a high level of “risk acceptance,” and since private investors are often unwilling to take such risks, the state must step in.

For example, if EU countries were to reduce their dependence on the US for cybersecurity, this would not only be a step toward “independence” in power politics but would also benefit European companies.

Closing the innovation gap

Furthermore, the EUISS is not alone in this demand. In May, Germany’s renowned business newspaper Handelsblatt warned that the EU faces technological dependence with consequences not only for its economy but also for its security policy.

The newspaper cited a joint study by Bocconi University, the Ifo Institute, and the Toulouse School of Economics, which called for government investment in developing key technologies at the EU level based on the “gold standard of the US DARPA model.”

The political guidelines of the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen state that the line between economic and security policy is increasingly blurring in the global “struggle for technological supremacy.”

In the debate surrounding the 2024 report on the future of Europe’s competitiveness by former European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi, calls for establishing a European DARPA based on the report have also become more frequent.

Draghi had explained that long-established business models are being questioned and that economic dependencies are turning into “geopolitical vulnerabilities.”

Although EU countries collectively have the second-largest military expenditure in the world after the US, they have failed to sufficiently expand their defense and space industries.

The “excessive fragmentation of the industrial base” was a “fundamental weakness” of the EU countries. The EU had to close the “innovation gap” between itself and the US and China.

First concrete steps for a DARPA in the EU

Meanwhile, the first concrete steps toward creating a European DARPA have been taken.

In 2020, the EU established the European Innovation Council (EIC). According to the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, this council will be further developed, inspired by “elements of the DARPA model,” and will be characterized by “increased risk-taking” in the future.

Ekaterina Zaharieva, the EU’s Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, announced that with the EIC, the EU will “secure its technological sovereignty, including in the defense sector.”

The EIC has a budget of tens of billions of euros under the Horizon Europe research program and announces on its website that it aims to position “Europe as a global leader in technological innovation.”

“Make Europe Great Again!”

In addition to the EIC, the Franco-German initiative JEDI (Joint European Disruptive Initiative), established in 2018, claims to be a forerunner of a European DARPA, although it does not officially focus on the military and armaments; the name JEDI itself is a reference to “ARPA.”

However, a look at the projects currently funded by JEDI reveals numerous dual-use technologies, such as strategic communication, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and a system intended to be the successor to GPS.

According to JEDI’s founding manifesto, Germany and France, as the “fastest and bravest” EU countries, must “show leadership” and ensure that the confederation of states does not become merely a “supplier of incredible talent” or a “large market” for technology companies in the US and Asia.

The initiative’s goal is to “regain technological leadership on a global scale and thus reclaim our strategic and economic independence.”

Interested parties can sign the JEDI pledge on the official JEDI website.

The pledge states that technological progress is a fundamental element of geopolitics: “Make Europe Great Again!”

JEDI’s supporters include the German Cyber Agency, the German AI Association, the BMW Foundation, and the state of Saarland.