European universities need a fine-grained approach to economic security risks [Op-ed]

For Science|Business EUA’s Thomas Jørgensen examines the European Economic Security Strategy. He argues that making this strategy work for higher education and research depends on the granularity of approaches and the political definition of risk.

The newly launched European Economic Security Strategy looks to address Europe’s economic vulnerabilities in a time of geopolitical tension. Among other initiatives it aims at better defining technologies that are critical for Europe or have potential dual civil and military use. This might bring clarity about the opportunities and limits for international research cooperation but it also risks further tightening the knot in this type of cooperation in the name of security.

In this article Thomas calls for the knowledge community to recognise legitimate concerns yet work toward a fine-grained approach to risk. This approach should keep open as the default option for cooperation look out for uses of risk as a tool for political steering and underline academic cooperation as an essential part of Europe’s soft power.

The full article is available in Science|Business.