Why and how the EU should act on armed drones

Abstract

This article systematizes the reasons that demand EU action on the issue of armed drones and advances a set of parameters that should frame the Union’s policy on the topic. It argues that a clear positioning of Brussels is required due to legal and strategic demands, and also for reasons of consistency with both previous practices in similar events and fundamental vectors of EU foreign and security policy. The current absence of a shared position is explained by several factors that need to be taken into account when addressing the possible paths for that position to materialize. We argue that EU’s policy should follow a two-tier logic that focuses on EU member states, in a first phase, and on the international sphere, in a second one. If fully and strictly respected within the EU territory, a clear EU position on armed drones, adopted in the form of a Council decision, would have the potential to influence international practices and to contribute to limiting armed drone proliferation. The guiding principles of a future EU policy should be reinforced externally by the creation of the role of a special representative for armed drones and targeted killings.

Keywords:

• drones
• targeted killings
• European Union
• security
• regulation
• international law

Funding

This article is part of the project ‘The individualization of insecurity and the normalization of exceptionalism in contemporary international security', generously funded by the Carlsberg Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Bruno Oliveira Martins is assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, in Denmark. Current research interests include contemporary trends in international security, the technology-security nexus, and EU-Israel relations. His research has been published in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, European Security, Mediterranean Politics, Global Affairs and Journal of European Integration.

Benedikt Backhaus is Associate at Miller & Meier Consulting in Berlin, Germany. He contributed to this article as research assistant at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University during his Master’s degree program in International Studies. Current research interests include developments in international security, cybersecurity, and US foreign policy. His research has been published in Politische Vierteljahresschrift and Internationale Politik verstehen.

Notes

1. This group comprises the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

2. See, for example, article 3(5) of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU): “In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security ( … ) and the protection of human rights ( … ) as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.”