Defensie is in Europa een nationale bevoegdheid. Welke oorlogen gevoerd moeten worden en welke wapensystemen daarvoor nodig zijn, is een beslissing die elke overheid onafhankelijk maakt. Maar dat is buiten de lobby van de wapenindustrie gerekend. In 2017 zette de EU de ongeziene stap om voor het eerst in haar geschiedenis een militair onderzoeksprogramma van 90 miljoen euro te financieren. In 2019, minder dan twee jaar later, zal het Europees Parlement stemmen over een hallucinant groot Europees Defensiefonds, een militair programma van 13 miljard euro.
Het Europees Defensiefonds is controversieel. De Europese Ombudsman heeft zich in een reeks uitspraken zeer kritisch uitgelaten over het gebrek aan transparantie. Bovendien zijn er bezorgdheden omtrent de betrokkenheid van de defensie-industrie bij de opzet van het Fonds. Onderzoek toont aan dat verschillende voorstellen van de Europese Commissie bijna letterlijk gekopieerd zijn van beleidsvoorstellen van de wapenindustrie.
Het met Europese fondsen subsidiëren van de wapenindustrie kan grote gevolgen hebben. Het risico bestaat dat het de wereldwijde wapenwedloop zal aanzwengelen. De militaire technologieën die vandaag ontwikkeld worden, zullen gebruikt worden in de oorlogen van de toekomst. Ondertussen wordt wetenschappelijk onderzoek dat kan bijdragen aan het voorkomen van conflicten verwaarloosd.
Het Europees Defensiefonds financiert niet eender welke wapentechnologie. De focus van de jaarlijkse conferentie van het Europees Defensieagentschap doet vermoeden dat de EU de heersende trend van onbemande naar autonome wapensystemen wil aanmoedigen. Volledig autonome wapens, ook gekend als killer robots, zijn in staat om zelf doelwitten te selecteren en uit te schakelen zonder enige menselijke interventie. Dat gaat in tegen internationale, humanitaire standaarden en ondermijnt het fundamenteel recht op leven en menselijke waardigheid.
De grens tussen onbemande en autonome systemen is dun. Sinds het begin van dit jaar is de EU gestart met het militair project Ocean2020. Dat project integreert maritieme, onbemande vaartuigen en lucht-drones met het oog op surveillance van de Middellandse Zee. Een ander controversieel project dat op de Europese agenda staat, is de ontwikkeling van een gewapende robot. Een project waar ook België bij betrokken is. De robot kan doelwitten selecteren tot op een afstand van vijf kilometer.
Omwille van de controversiële aard van killer robots, riepen het Europees Parlement, wetenschappers, talloze middenveldorganisaties en verschillende overheden op tot een verbod. Net zoals in het verleden chemische wapens, anti-persoon mijnen en clustermunitie verboden werd, moeten overheden nu ook killer robots een halt toeroepen. Ondanks de grote steun voor een verbod, ondermijnen verschillende overheden de onderhandelingen door steeds meer autonome wapentechnologie te ontwikkelen. Ook de Europese Unie lijkt zich nu, tegen een resolutie van haar eigen parlement in, bij die overheden te voegen.
De afgelopen vier jaar hebben we de gruweldaden van de Eerste Wereldoorlog herdacht. De oorlog die leidde tot de oproep: ‘nooit meer oorlog’. Gaan wij nu, 100 jaar later, opnieuw investeren in een nieuwe wapenwedloop?
Ondertekenaars:
Defence policy in Europe remains a national jurisdiction. What wars to wage, what equipment to buy, they remain questions to be answered by every government independently. But as an economic union the EU has a listening ear for every industry, including the defence industry. This is how, in 2017, the European Union took the unprecedented step of setting up a military research programme worth 90 million euros. In 2019 the European Parliament will vote on the much larger European Defence Fund, a 13 billion euros military funding scheme.
The Fund is already controversial. The European Ombudsman has slammed the European Commission on several instances for its lack of transparency. There are also concerns about the murky involvement of the defence industry in its set-up of the Fund. Research shows that some policy proposals from the European Commission were almost literally copied from position papers of the defence industry.
EU funding of military research will not be without consequence. It will likely fuel an arms race. The military technologies developed today will be the ones bought tomorrow to fight the wars of the future. In the meantime, scientific research which might actually contribute to preventing violent conflict is being neglected. Furthermore, EU citizens’ tax money isn't financing just any kind of weapon technology. The focus of EDA's annual conference later this week suggests the EU wants to follow the trend, after drones, toward autonomous weapons. Fully autonomous weapons, also known as killer robots would be able to select and engage targets without human intervention. As such they will be unable to meet international humanitarian law standards, including the rules of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity, while they would threaten the fundamental right to life and principle of human dignity.
The line between unmanned and autonomous systems is often a thin one. Since the beginning of this year the European Union has started funding the military project Ocean 2020. This is a project that will integrate enhanced air, naval surface and underwater unmanned systems into fleet operations to build up a recognized maritime picture of developing situations for military commanders. Another controversial project which is rumored to be in the pipeline is an “armed ground drone” developed by Estonia, Latvia and Finland. As a semi-autonomous companion for soldiers on the ground, it can identify and track targets at ranges of up to 5km. In addition to the actual vehicle, the project would develop an autonomous control system, cyber defence capabilities and an integrated network of sensors.
Because of their controversial nature, civil society, researchers, the European Parliament and a group of states are advocating a ban of autonomous weapons. Governments should prohibit their use and development, as they did in the past with chemical weapons, anti-personnel mines and cluster munition. But the initiative in favor of a ban is being undermined by countries that are exploring the development of such weapons, including the European Union.
For the last four years, we have been commemorating the horrors of the first World War, the war that led to the call 'never again'. Are we, 100 years later, really going to fuel a new arms race?
This letter was published on Wednesday November 28th 2018 on euobserver.eu
Agustin Velloso, lecturer, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain
Alessio Surian, Associate Professor, University of Padova, Italy
Alice von Bieberstein, post-doc, Institute for European Ethnology/CARMAH, Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany
Ana Márcia Enes Barbosa, Research Associate, University of Évora
Andrea Balduzzi, researcher (now retired), Distav (Dept. of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences), Università di Genova, Italy
Andreas Nuyts, PhD researcher, KU Leuven, Belgium
Andy Irwin, master in medical engineering, UK
Angela Cavazzini, Administrative Staff, University of Rome, Italy
Angelo Baracca, Professor of Physics (retired), University of Florence, Italy
Antoine Fermé, PhD student in Laboratoire de Mathématiques d'Orsay, Université Paris Sud, France
Antonio Mampaso, researcher, IAC Tenerife, Spain
Axelle Meyermans, PhD-Researcher in Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Bela Irina P. N. Castro, PhD Student at the Centre for Social Studies, Universty of Coimbra
Centre Nacional d'Anàlisi Genòmica (CNAG-CRG) Centre de Regulació Genòmica Parc Científic de Barcelona
Charlotte Bollaert, Vertalen, assistent bij de vakgroep Tolken en Communicatie, Ugent, Belgium
Chiara Cardelli, Science Communication project manager, Academy of Sciences, Austria
Chris Bieman
Claire Lacour, Professor of Mathematics, University Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, France
Claire Lacour, Professor of Mathematics, University Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, France
Danaja FABČIČ POVŠE, Researcher, KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law – imec, Belgium
Daniel Chateigner, Professor Normandie Université Caen, France
Daniel Roig Bardina, Textile Laboratory Researcher, CRTTT-EURECAT-Diputació de Barcelona
Daniela DeBono, Senior Lecturer Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University, Sweden
David C Sterratt, Senior Research Associate Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, UK
David Webb, Emeritus Professor, Leeds Beckett University
Diego Latella, Senior Researcher, Italian National Research Council, Pisa, Italy
Dieter Plehwe, Senior Fellow, Berlin Social Science Center for Civil Society Research, Germany
Dimitar Tasev, the Netherlands
Dinah Wouters, PhD candidate, Ghent University, Belgium
Dr Anitta Kynsilehto, Senior researcher, Tampere Peace Research Institute, Finland
Dr Giovanni Cercignani, University Researcher on Retirement from the University of Pisa, Italy
Dr Iain Atack, Assistant Professor, International Peace Studies, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Dr Karen Evans, Dept Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, Liverpool
Dr Keith Baker, School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University
Dr Philip Webber, Chair, Scientists for Global Responsibility UK
Dr. Chloë Delcour, Ghent University, Department of Sociology
Dr. Edgar Göll, Head of Futures Research & Participation, Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment, Germany
Dr. Elisabeth Bücking, Dipl. Biol., retired
dr. Erella Grassiani, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Dr. Fèlix Saltor, retired Professor, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech), dept LLenguatges i Sistemes Informàtics (Comuter Science)
Dr. Frederico Gama-Carvalho, PhD (Physics), Senior Researcher (retired), CEO of OTC-Organization of Scientific Workers
Dr. Itamar Shachar, Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Jeff Powell, Senior Lecturer, Economics, Department of International Business & Economics, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College London
Dr. José Ramón Olarieta, Professor, Departament de Medi Ambient i Ciències del Sòl, Universitat de Lleida, Italy
Dr. Kepa Fernández de Larrinoa, Current Research Fellow at Oxford University
Dr. Marcos Francisco Perez, Postdoctoral researcher, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona
Dr. Markus Gunkel, Hamburger Forum für Völkerverständigung und weltweite Abrüstung e. V., Germany
Dr. Matthias Korn, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Information Systems, University of Siegen, Germany
Dr. Philip Inglesant, Research Assistant, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
Dr. Rachel Spronk, Associate professor, University of Amsterdam
dr. Susanne Jalka, Konfliktkultur, Austria
Dr. Victoria Canning, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol
Duarte Nuno Vasconcelos Gonçalves, Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Porto – Portugal
Dzifa Ametowobla, Research Associate, Department of Sociology, Technische Universität Berlin
Eivind Hovig, professor Dr. philos., University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital
Elena Camino, Centro Studi Sereno Regis, Torino, Italy
Elodie Verlinden, ULB, Belgium
em. prof. dr. Marc David, Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium
em. Prof. Herman De Ley, Ghent University, Belgium
Emeritus Professor Keith Barnham, Distinguished Research Fellow, Physics Department, Imperial College London
Enzo Ferrara, Dept. Nanosciences and Materials, Istituto Nazionale di ricerca Metrologica – INRIM, Italy
Ernest De Clerck, PhD Candidate. KU Leuven, Belgium
Eva Novotny, PhD, (retired) University of Cambridge
Ewoud Vandepitte, Assistant in sociology, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Federico Batini, Associate Professor, University of Perugia, Italy
Fiona Dove, Executive Director, Transnational Institute, Netherlands
Francesco Lenci, Retired CNR Research Director, Italy
Frédéric Le Roux, Professor of Mathematics Sorbonne University, Paris, France
Garbuglia Anna Rosa, Molecular Virologist, Rome Italy
Geertrui Van Overwalle, Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP), University of Leuven, Belgium
Geoffrey Janssens, Post-doctoral researcher of the FWO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Giuseppe Burgio, Associate Professor of Intercultural Education, Kore University of Enna, Italy
Hala El Moussawi, PhD Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Hans Hüttel, Associate Professor Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University, Denmark
Hans Vernaeve Ghent University Department of Mathematics, Belgium
Harry Bernas, Research Director (em) CNRS (National Scientific Research Center), France
Inge Eyskens University of Antwerp, Belgium
Ingrid Falnoga, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Iraklis Oikonomou, PhD International Politics, independent researcher
Isar Goyvaerts, Doctor in de Wetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Jan Oberg, Dr.hc., peace researcher and director, Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research, TFF Lund, Sweden
Jan Potters, Doctoral Student, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Jan-Erik Gustafsson, Associate professor (retired), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Stockholm , Sweden
Jannis Eicker, research assistant, Kassel University, Germany
Jean-Michel Guillon, Researcher, Université Paris Sud
Jenny Nelson, Professor of Physics, Imperial College London
José Carlos Briton, Principal Researcher, PhD, CIBIO/InBIO, University of Porto, Portugal
Jose Fernando Pinharanda, Consulting Engineer to Gibb Portugal
Josep Puig i Boix, PhD engineer, retired professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
Jürgen Altmann, PhD Physicist, Peace Researcher, Technische Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany
Jutta Weber, Germany
Kim Naudts, Postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany
Klaas Tindemans, docent/onderzoeker, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (KCB), Belgium
Konstantin Kostov, Associate Professor SDU Electrical Engineering, The Mads Clausen Institute, Denmark
Kornee van der Haven, Professor Dutch Literature, Ghent University, Belgium
L. Bargigli, Italy
Lars Bodum, Associate Professor in Geospatial technologies Aalborg University, Denmark
Laura Deruytter, PhD researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Laura Horn, Associate Professor, Roskilde University, Denmark
Laurence Kenney, Professor of Rehabilitation Technologies, University of Salford
Leandro Van Langenhove, PhD Researcher, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Leili Khalatbari, PhD Student, CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos
Lieven De Cauter, Philosopher, art historian and writer, KUL, Belgium
Linde Nuyts, PhD candidate history, Ghent University, Belgium
Lorenza Nisticò, MD, PhD Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Italian Institute of Health, Italy
Lucas Wirl, Program Director, International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES)
Lucie Chamlian, Kiel, Germany
Lucy Suchman, Professor, Anthropology of Science and Technology, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University
M. Rosa Teira-Esmatges, associate professor, University of Lleida
Maarten Loopmans, KUL, Belgium
Maja van der Velden, Associate Professor, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo
Malte Lühmann, Germany
Mandy de Wilde, PhD, Postdoctoral researcher, Wageningen University & Research Centre
Marc Finaud, ‘Arms Proliferation’ Cluster Leader Emerging Security Challenges Progamme"
Marc Rosanes Siscart, Software engineer, Synchrotron ALBA-CELLS, Barcelona
Marco Cervino, Physicist, researcher, National Research Council, Italy
Margarida Carvalho e Silva, Professor, Portuguese Catholic University
Marisa Carvalho Naia, master student from Faculty of Science of University of Porto, Portugal
Matteo Campioli, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Megan J. Povey, Professor of Food Physics, School of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds
Melissa Van Landeghem, PhD student in Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Mieke Massink, Researcher, Institute: Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISTI)
Miguel Alvarez Cobelas, Scientific Researcher, CSIC-Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Serrano, Madrid, Spain
Monica Zoppè, Researcher, CNR (National Research Council) of Italy.
Nazan Ustundag, Academic, Academy in Exile
Nele Vandersickel, vakgroep fysica en sterrenkunde, Ugent, Belgium
Nina Haerter, PhD researcher, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Nuno F.F.G. Boavida, PhD Researcher, Observatório de Avaliação de Tecnologia"
Olga Dolgova, Postdoctoral Researcher, Population Genomics Team
Oliver Human, post-doctoral researcher, University of Amsterdam
Oliver Maye, research associate, IHP – Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Germany
Onur Şahin, PhD Candidate, Utrecht University
Paolo Tieri, Researcher, CNR National Research Council, Italy
Patrick Deboosere, Department of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Pedro U. Lima, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, specialized in Intelligent Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, U. Lisbon, Portugal
Penelope Papailias, Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Thessaly, Greece
Pere Brunet, retired Full Professor of Computer Science at UPC
Pierre Lannoy, Institut de Sociologie, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Pieter Present, doctoral researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Prof dr. Amade Aouatef M’charek, Prof of the Anthropology of Science, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam."
Prof. Dr. em. Aviel Verbruggen, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Prof. Dr. em. Madeline Lutjeharms, Faculty of Arts, Vrije Universteit Brussel, Belgium
Prof. dr. F. Brosens, Departement Fysica Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium
Prof. Dr. Hanne-M. Birckenbach, Germany
Prof. Dr. Regina Ammicht Quinn, Internationale Center of Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities, Universityof Tuebingen, Germany
prof. em. Jean Bricmont, Université de Louvain, Belgium
Prof. Guido Vanden Wyngaerd, Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven, Belgium
Prof. Helmut Kramer, International Relations, University of Vienna, Austria
prof. Hendrik Vos, Europese politiek, Universiteit Gent, Belgium
prof. Karel Vanhaesebrouck, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Professor David Howard, School of Computing, Science & Engineering, University of Salford
Professor Dean Wilson, School of Law, Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex, UK
Rainer Rehak, Researcher, Weizenbaum-Institute for the networked society, Germany
Richard C. Jennings, Affiliated Research Scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, UK
Rita Gameiro Aleixo Pais, Project manager and PhD student at Centro de Estudos Sociais, Portugal
Robert John Millar, University lecturer and post-doc researcher in power systems, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Rui Namorado Rosa, Professor emeritus, Department of Physics, University of Évora, Portugal
Sarah J. Adams
Sean Matthew Cavany, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame
Silvia Woll, Scientific staff, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Germany
Špela Špenko, FWO postdoc, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Sruti Bala, Associate Professor, Theatre Studies, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Stefano Severi, PhD Assistant Professor, University of Bologna, Italy
Stuart Parkinson, Executive Director Scientists for Global Responsibility"
Syksy Räsänen, University Researcher, University of Helsinki, Finland
Thomas Danckaert, Flemish Supercomputer Center, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Tiago Vinagre de Castro, Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra
Thierry Marchant, Professor, Ghent University, Belgium
Toby Walsh, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, TU Berlin and UNSW Sydney, Germany/Australia
Unto Vesa, Emeritus research fellow Tampere Peace Research Institute, Finland
Vincenzo Riso, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal
Viviane BALADI, Directeur de Recherches CNRS, Paris
Wolf Göhring (retired)
Xavier Bohigas, PhD, Departament de Física, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Xavier MAY, researcher, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium