Dear Member of the European Parliament,

on Wednesday 12 December, you will make a decisive vote on the proposal for a European Defence Fund to dedicate €13 billion for research and development projects in military technologies during the next multi-financial framework.

44 non-profit organisations across Europe have recently alerted about the risks the current proposal entails, regarding the diversion of funds from civilian priorities and the over-influence of the arms industry, as well as the possible contribution to the development of killer-robots and the future exports of EU-funded goods.

European scientists are also alarmed by this military turn of the EU and the potential development of autonomous weapons, echoing previous concerns from the international rersearch community at large

The ombudsman raised concerns about the lack of transparency around the advisory role of the industry on the setting-up of EU funds for military research, which could lead to a perception of conflict of interest, and concluded to maladministration by the European Commission for not answering adequately to civil society requests for information.

In your role as direct representatives of EU citizens, we urge you to pay a particular attention to the coming vote and, if not to reject the proposal as such, to at least support those amendments that could mitigate some of the mentioned risks, by:

• excluding projects related to armed drones until there is a legal framework for their use;

• excluding projects that could contribute to the development of fully autonomous weapons;

• introducing a stricter control on the future exports of EU-funded military technologies.

Sincerely yours,

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