Speaker
Description
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union (EU) has proposed and launched an ambitious defence industrial agenda. The European Commission, historically seen as a technocratic actor, has been a driving force in proposing new regulatory and strategic initiatives in this previously closed-off policy sector. This development raises the question of how the Commission, and EU policymaking at large, copes with expansion to new policy sectors where expertise might be lacking or insufficient. This paper provides two main arguments. Firstly, the defence industry has become an increasingly important actor in EU policymaking both by lobbying and providing technical expertise. Secondly, the Commission strategically exploits this expertise to strengthen its agenda-setting and regulatory power on EU defence.
The paper demonstrates how the defence industry plays a dual role in EU policymaking. On the one hand, defence industry associations and firms are actively lobbying EU institutions to shape EU defence policies. Simultaneously, associations and firms are regularly being consulted on technical and strategic aspects of new initiatives. On the other hand, the defence industry is the target of EU’s new initiatives, and the success of these largely depends on industry’s compliance. At the EU level, the Commission lacks sufficient expertise and competence to monitor and evaluate defence production, enhancing the defence industry’s epistemic advantage vis-à-vis the Commission. Because the defence market’s particular features, industry expertise does not only inform EU policymaking, but it actively shapes the relationship between public and private actors.
This paper examines the defence industry’s role in EU policymaking by analysing two EU: the European Defence Industry Program (EDIP) and the White Paper on Defence – Readiness 2030. The analysis draws on semi-structured elite interviews with defence industry representatives and EU officials, as well as public data such as strategic documents, reports, and press releases.
| If you are submitting an Open Panel proposal, have you included all four abstracts in attachment? | No, I am submitting a Closed Panel abstract |
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| Would you like to be considered for travel funding through the NetSec COST Action? | Yes |
| Are you a member of the NetSec Management Committee? | No |
| What discipline or branch of humanities or social sciences do you identify yourself with? | Public policy |
| Which of the following best describes your stage of the career? | PhD Candidate |
| In which country is your home institution? | Austria |
| What is your gender? | Female |