German minister calls on civilian researchers to embrace potential military use

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By Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s research and technology minister told Reuters that the country’s civilian scientists should be free to work on military or dual-use projects to support Europe’s push to become more independent in security and defence.

Many of Germany’s public universities are guided by conventions that ban civilian projects from working towards secondary military benefits, which has been called into question after Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“I am fundamentally in favour of reconsidering the so-called civilian clauses at universities,” said Dorothee Baer, who is a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc.

“In order to maintain peace today, we cannot afford to impose restrictions on thought and research,” she said, adding that the decision would ultimately lie with individual institutions and researchers.

She said the strict separation from military research was also holding back some start-up firms seeking to spin off from academic institutions.

Aerospace research is set to become a focal point of the debate after Germany’s defence ministry this week unveiled plans to invest 35 billion euros ($40 billion) in space to make the military the backbone of the country’s space strategy.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Ludwig Burger, editing by Thomas Seythal)