Military Research and Innovation in the EU : Common European or National Interest Policy?

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 2,0, University of Vienna (Institut für Politikwissenschaft), course: Research and Innovation Policies in Europe, language: English, abstract: This essay is an analysis on the role of national interests in military research and innovation policies of UK and Germany. As these two cases have the charm of being both very important European countries and members of the European Union, but with different policy strategies at the European level, there is a significant scientific interest in researching their approaches. Especially in the sensitive field of military research and innovation one can see a complex situation. On the one hand, the rationality of sharing data in terms of fiscal and budgetary restrictions is seen as a political fact that can't be ignored by now (see Dunne and Braddon 2008). On the other hand, national traditions and inward-looking interests are not yet a relic of the past. This leads to the following research question: Which role do national interests play in military research and innovation policies of UK and Germany?