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+--- Thread: European Union, worried about rising tensions, plans to boost military research (/thread-5547.html)
European Union, worried about rising tensions, plans to boost military research - C C - Jun 18, 2018
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/european-union-worried-about-rising-tensions-plans-boost-military-research
EXCERPT: After decades of keeping a low profile in the military arena, the European Union is flexing its muscles. On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed a new, €13 billion fund for military R&D. Its main beneficiaries are expected to be major European companies, such as Airbus, Leonardo, and the Thales Group, but universities and research institutes will be able to apply as well.[...] National interests and secrecy have long prevailed in defense; Mogherini acknowledged that EDF would have seemed “unthinkable” in the past. And some are uncomfortable with this new role for the union. About 700 researchers have signed a petition against any form of EU spending for military research, which they write “will only worsen global tensions.”
Stuart Parkinson, head of Scientists for Global Responsibility in Lancaster, U.K., one of the organizations behind the petition, says the money could be put to better use in civilian research in areas such as environmental protection, sustainable development, energy security, and satellite navigation. “R&D in all these areas could help tackle the roots of conflict,” Parkinson wrote in a note in February....
MORE: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/european-union-worried-about-rising-tensions-plans-boost-military-research
RE: European Union, worried about rising tensions, plans to boost military research - Syne - Jun 18, 2018
So instead of individual countries spending more on their own defense, the EU will do it for them? Sounds like a recipe for power consolidation. Get out while you can.