Acquire drones and… think about the next step
(BRUSSELS2) The question of drones - whether acquisition or manufacture - is now an important political subject. And this will undoubtedly be one of the major points where we will be able to gauge, or not, progress in terms of Europe of Defense, at the summit at the end of the year. General de Rousiers - who chairs the EU military committee - wanted to set the context during an exchange with the press.
Data protection
Acquisition is just a small part of the process. Which is " just as important is employment: why do we buy, what is the objective? ». Especially when the acquisition is made in cooperation, the questions multiply. It is thus necessary to know "if operate the drones together? For what use? Is it for border surveillance or the areas where we are engaged? Do we use the data in common? What do we do with the data? How long do we keep them? Are they shared with partners? And how, etc. » As we can see, there are many question marks.
The urgency of a debate
« We need a debate So considers the general. And answers legally”. Ditto in terms of armed drones “ Do we use them? According to what rules ". A whole series of questions that need to be addressed at the same time as the acquisition ". Drones themselves are just one step in and of themselves,” adds de Rousiers. " The next step is robotization. Land robots, maritime robots - all piloted with artificial intelligence, that is to say programmed - will appear in a horizon of ten to fifteen years. It is a very close horizon. »
Comments : all these questions should give rise to answers at European level. While drones are beginning to be used in civilian, police or preventive uses (in the Netherlands) for example, a legislative framework for data protection, at European level, should be proposed and defined at European level. It is up to the European Commission to take the initiative in this case. Otherwise, there is a risk of having various, and sometimes contradictory, laws being put in place.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)