Contested views? Tracing European positions on lethal autonomous weapon systems

ABSTRACT

The article explores the evolving positions and negotiation strategies of the EU and its member states regarding lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). Specifically, it traces the proceedings around the UN disarmament forum Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) from 2013 to 2020. Embedded in the norm contestation literature, the empirical section draws upon semi-structured interviews as well as document analysis. We find that, despite the absence of a CFSP position on the matter, the EU and key member states have been instrumental in shaping the discussions. However, the role of the EU is constrained due to double contestation. First, at the level of member states contestation persists on what is the appropriate regulatory framework (hard or soft law). Second, contestation is also exerted towards the EU by some member states who contest the EEAS’s involvement. Some are conscious that presenting an “EU position” might constrain their ability to build global coalitions. Others do not want the EU to interfere with their national sovereignty on such a critical security issue. While these two elements work against a common EU position, we also observe a window of opportunity for the EU. Notably, the EU can strengthen the CCW by funding the forum structures and secretariat, which could become an important body in the implementation of foreseeable agreements.

KEYWORDS:

• EU foreign policy
• CFSP
• CSDP
• contestation
• lethal autonomous weapons systems

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Esther Barbé, Oriol Costa and Heidi Maurer for their useful feedback in previous versions of the article. Also, we would like to thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and efforts towards improving our manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 See Schmitt (2021) for a broader discussion on international negotiations of AI.

2 The EDF agreement does not, however, restrict member states from funding such kind of systems at the national level.

3 The cut-off date of this research was May 2021. Since then, additional informal and formal meetings at the CCW have taken place.

4 We would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for their very helpful comments in this regard.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness. FPI Scholarship. Grant Agreement: BES-2017-079692; Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science. Research Project: The Emergence of European Sovereignty in a World of Systemic Rivalry: Strategic Autonomy and Permissive Consensus (EUSOV). Grant Agreement: PID2020-116443GB-I00.