Commission warns dual-use research rules may lead to non-EU countries' exclusion from Horizon projects

The European Commission has warned that non-EU countries that are part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme stand a higher chance of being excluded from dual-use research projects.

In an internal document published on 30/04/2026, the Commission sets out its thinking on the rules for dual-use research, i.e. into technologies and devices that can have civilian and defence applications. The EU’s research programme Horizon Europe has not funded dual-use projects until now, but it will do so under the next programme, which runs from 2028 to 2034.

In the paper, the Commission stresses that it is not planning to introduce additional conditions for proposals for dual-use research and that the rules relating to ethics, security of information and international cooperation under the next Horizon Europe programme (FP10) will apply.

The Commission stressed that Horizon Europe will be primarily for civilian applications, although in some cases the European Innovation Council (EIC) may decide to fund some purely defence-related applications.

However, the link between the European…