Dual-use technologies: practices and trends relevant for international security

This paper will discuss dual-use technologies with a focus on practices and trends relevant for international security, through a three-steps approach. In the first chapter, the lack of unambiguous definition for dual-use technologies will be addressed, first in relation to international sanctions and then with regard to the tension between EU institutions and Union's Member States over integration in the defence and security field. In the second chapter, the European investments in dual-use technologies will be considered by focusing on three aspects. First, the complex portfolio of funding for dual use, whereby several institutional actors are involved with overlapping competencies, different agendas and little cooperation. Second, the relation between dual-use and the capabilities for EU external action, particularly regarding Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and civil-military cooperation. Third, the governance issue, with a specific focus on the roles of both European Commission (EC) and European Defence Agency (EDA). The last chapter of this paper will discuss dual-use technologies and the EU export control system, with a view to the ongoing review of the latter. Finally, the conclusions will underline as dual-use lies somehow at the crossroads among technological innovation, international regulation, EU governance, and the way security challenges are addressed by European actors.