Recommendations on critically important research in the EU – competition and security

Research is also impacted by conflicts around the world – which is why the EU has issued a number of recommendations on critically important research. This is research that can affect the competitiveness or security of the European Union. The EU has identified the research areas that are critically important in their view.

The Research Data Office at AU is in the process of establishing the scope of critically important research at AU in collaboration with the departments, explains John Westensee, an adviser with the Research Data Office.

22 September 2025 by Tine Mark Jensen

This is done in order to meet EU requirements, but also to inform decisions on initiatives AU is working on with reference to the Danish government’s URIS guidelines.

Last autumn, he did a tour of AU’s 32 departments to map the scope of dual-use export-controlled research – looking, among other things, at bibliometrics and collaboration patterns. After the round of visits, the departments were divided into four categories based on the critically important research that can be expected to be part of the portfolio. According to John Westensee, seven departments seem to be involved in a particularly high level of critically important research. The mapping will take until the end of the year.

Research to strengthen EU’s position
As mentioned above, critically important research is research that affects the security of the EU, but more importantly, from an EU perspective, it is also research that affects the competitiveness of the EU. Among other things, because of the breakthrough nature of the research. The EU wants research that can help strengthen competitiveness and solve the major challenges facing society and the world, including security and climate-related challenges. These are themes that Mario Draghi also highlights in his report, and which are also mentioned in the Competitiveness Compass report. Therefore, critically important research must be protected. This also has a bearing on the new EU programmes, according to John Westensee, who believes that there will be a lot of focus on security in the future – which will therefore become a parameter in applications. In the context of critically important research, particular focus must be on the researchers involved, their collaboration partners and the sharing of data.

The protection of critically important research is important, but AU is keen not to over-implement, but to live up to the Commission’s recommendations. It must be as open as possible, and as closed as necessary.

What to do – analysis and checking
The Research Data Office has prepared a form with a number of questions to be answered by the departments about their research activities. The answers are then analysed to establish what precautions are needed. If background screening of partners is needed, AU has a background screening unit in Nat Tech HR. Background screening is currently carried out of citizens from the so-called critical countries designated by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET): Iran, China and Russia. For critically important research, the scope of the screenings is being widened. This means that, from 1 January 2026, background screenings will be carried out of researchers and institutions from non-EU countries and countries that are not already approved partners.

John Westensee stresses that the vast majority of research conducted at AU will not be defined as critically important. Critically important research, as defined by the EU, is mainly conducted in the technical and natural sciences. Still, all researchers need to think about who they are entering into collaboration with and, of course, comply with PET’s recommendations on background screening, when necessary.“What’s needed is a targeted effort that is differentiated according to the content of the research. We need to make sure that those who need to take care do so, and that other researchers are not burdened unnecessarily,” says John Westensee.

The Research Data Office is always happy to answer questions regarding critically important research. And this autumn, a new website is being launched to provide general information on the topic.