For decades, Europe has funded research as a public good, designed to advance knowledge, encourage cooperation and drive economic progress.
Since the launch of the first Framework Programme in 1984, this ambition has brought laboratories, universities, businesses and Member States together around projects that would have been difficult to develop at national level alone. This history is documented by the European Parliament https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/66/research-and-technological-development-policy.
This European project was built on a powerful conviction: science should transcend borders, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and strengthen Europe's competitiveness.
But the world in which this policy was conceived has fundamentally changed.
Technology now lies at the heart of geopolitical competition and strategic power. A single innovation can support the energy transition, protect a hospital, guide a satellite, secure an electricity grid or strengthen defence capabilities.
The boundary between civilian and military applications is becoming increasingly difficult to define. Artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, robotics, drones, cybersecurity, biotechnology, space technologies and Earth observation now belong to the broad category of dual-use technologies.
Europe's challenge is therefore no longer simply to generate knowledge. It must also know how to protect it, finance it, translate it into practical applications, industrialise it and deploy it.
The current Horizon Europe programme has a budget of €95.5 billion for the 2021–2027 period. It supports fundamental research, major societal challenges, healthcare, climate action, civil security, digital technologies and breakthrough innovation. The Council of the European Union https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/horizon-europe/ outlines its structure and main objectives.
The programme was designed in an environment shaped by the green transition, digital transformation and the ambition to consolidate European competitiveness.
Since then, crises have multiplied and, more importantly, become increasingly interconnected.
Wars, geopolitical tensions, pandemics, climate disasters, cyberattacks, disinformation, supply chain disruptions, industrial dependencies, shortages of critical raw materials and energy crises can no longer be regarded as isolated risks.
These phenomena interact, reinforce one another and generate cascading consequences. A cyberattack can halt industrial production. An energy crisis can undermine a healthcare system. A disinformation campaign can delay a public response. A climate disaster can simultaneously trigger humanitarian, economic, insurance and political crises.
Resilience can therefore no longer be treated as a purely technical function. It is becoming a strategic capability involving executives, boards of directors, scientists, engineers, legal professionals, insurers, investors and public authorities.
The European Preparedness Union Strategy https://commission.europa.eu/topics/preparedness_en reflects this shift. It advocates a comprehensive approach combining anticipation, protection of vital functions, cooperation with businesses, public preparedness, coordinated responses and closer integration between civilian and defence sectors.
This transformation explains the significant increase in ambition currently being considered for the next EU Framework Programme.
For the 2028–2034 period, the European Commission has proposed increasing the research and innovation budget to €175 billion. This figure remains subject to institutional negotiations, but it already signals a major political shift. The European Commission's proposal https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/horizon-europe-2028-2034-twice-bigger-simpler-faster-and-more-impactful-2025-07-16_en explicitly places competitiveness, defence, space and dual-use technologies at the heart of the future framework.
The objective is not simply to fund more projects. It is to establish a continuous pathway from fundamental research to experimentation, demonstration, industrial production and operational deployment.
This continuity is essential in sectors where speed has become a determining factor of sovereignty.
A European discovery that cannot be industrialised within Europe will often end up generating value elsewhere. A strategic technology whose components, data or infrastructure depend on external powers remains an inherently vulnerable capability.
The next programme must therefore address several urgent priorities simultaneously: attracting talent, protecting scientific assets, securing data, accelerating technology transfer, financing innovative companies and fostering the emergence of European industrial and technological champions.
It must also bring together communities that still operate too often in separate worlds.
Researchers must better understand operational requirements. Industry must identify laboratory innovations at an earlier stage. Investors must learn to support long development cycles. Insurers must model emerging risks. Legal professionals must enable innovation without unnecessarily constraining it. Business leaders must integrate resilience into their strategic decision-making.
The United Kingdom's development of the Defence Universities Alliance https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-to-become-a-founding-member-of-the-defence-universities-alliance illustrates this ambition to build more structured relationships between universities, defence, national security, industry and education.
However, this evolution raises sensitive questions.
How can academic freedom be preserved while protecting strategic research? How can international cooperation continue without exposing critical technologies? How can defence applications be supported while maintaining ethical governance? How can the data required for innovation be shared while safeguarding digital sovereignty?
Law, regulation and compliance are becoming genuine instruments of strategic power.
The EU Artificial Intelligence Act, cybersecurity regulations, data protection requirements, export controls, international sanctions and trade secret protection increasingly determine organisations' actual ability to operate.
Managing risk also requires a fundamental reassessment of finance and insurance.
Systemic crises are challenging the limits of insurability. Traditional models must increasingly account for cascading effects, hidden dependencies, extreme climate events, cyberattacks and prolonged supply chain disruptions.
Insurance can no longer intervene only after a crisis has occurred. It must contribute to prevention, risk modelling, resilience financing and behavioural change.
Technology will play a central role in this transformation.
Digital twins will make it possible to simulate industrial disruptions or large-scale territorial disasters. Artificial intelligence will help identify early warning signals. Quantum computing could unlock new modelling capabilities. Satellites will enhance territorial monitoring and situational awareness. Robots and autonomous systems will be able to operate in hazardous environments.
Yet no technology will eliminate the human factor.
Trust, judgement, leadership, psychological preparedness, an understanding of collective behaviour and the ability to make decisions under pressure will remain decisive.
An organisation may possess the most advanced technologies and still fail because of inadequate governance, a weak risk culture or insufficient coordination.
The real challenge for Europe's future research programme will therefore be to connect technological power with the human and institutional capacity to use it responsibly.
This is precisely where METRICS https://www.metrics-summit.org/fr/themes positions itself.
METRICS brings together the issues that are increasingly shaping a single strategic reality: wars and conflicts, intelligence, influence, foresight, insurance, financing, innovation, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, law, compliance, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, supply chains, climate, healthcare, human factors, governance, industrial sovereignty, technological architectures, robotics and organisational transformation.
This cross-disciplinary approach responds to a fundamental reality: no institution will be able to confront future crises alone.
The central question will no longer be simply how to respond to a crisis. It will be how to anticipate it, absorb the shock, maintain essential functions, protect populations and accelerate recovery.
The proposed increase from €95.5 billion to €175 billion therefore represents far more than a budgetary expansion.
It symbolises the transition from a Europe that funds knowledge to a Europe determined to transform knowledge into operational capability, sovereignty and collective protection.
The real debate is no longer simply how much Europe will invest in research.
It is whether Europe can transform science into strategic power, strategic power into resilience, and resilience into trust.
METRICS aims to become one of the leading European forums where this transformation can be explored, debated and translated into action.
METRICS SUMMIT 2027 — From Risk to Resilience
7–8 July 2027 | Paris, France
Connecting science, technology, security, industry, finance and governance to shape Europe's strategic resilience.
Discover METRICS https://www.metrics-summit.org/fr/themes