Integration of Ukrainian drone industry into EU Common Defence and Security Policy: How is the Ukrainian drone industry collaborating with the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy and can it be considered integration, using differentiated integration theory?
Translated title
Integration of Ukrainian drone industry into EU Common Defence and Security Policy: Hvordan samarbejder den ukrainske droneindustri med EU's fælles sikkerheds- og forsvarspolitik, og kan dette samarbejde betragtes som integration ved anvendelse af differentieret integrationsteori?
Author
Tsiupiak, Olha
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-05-29
Pages
58
Abstract
This thesis examines how Ukraine’s drone industry works with the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) — the EU’s framework for security and defense cooperation — and whether this counts as integration using differentiated integration (DI) theory. DI means that actors can engage with parts of the EU system in different ways and at different depths. The study is a qualitative single-case design based on a systematic analysis of EU and Ukrainian policy frameworks and two expert interviews with Danish drone companies. The analysis identifies two parallel tracks. First, a fast-growing bilateral network with 41 documented cooperation arrangements across 22 EU member states. These operate through five modalities, including joint production, technology transfer, and battlefield feedback loops (direct frontline experience that quickly improves solutions), mostly outside formal CSDP structures. Second, an emerging EU-level track via the European Defence Agency (EDA), the European Defence Fund (EDF), and PESCO (an EU framework for defense capability projects), where Ukrainian entities have obtained formal access to participate but currently have limited operational involvement. Using Telle et al.’s (2025) definition of external differentiated integration and Lavenex & Križić’s (2022) regulatory and organizational dimensions, the thesis concludes that Ukraine’s drone industry is undergoing progressive external differentiated integration mainly at the level of participation rather than full institutionalization. This development is driven more by war, threat perceptions, and battlefield-driven innovation than by a formal accession logic.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan Ukraines droneindustri arbejder sammen med EU’s fælles sikkerheds- og forsvarspolitik (CSDP) – EU’s ramme for sikkerheds- og forsvarssamarbejde – og om dette kan forstås som integration ud fra teorien om differentieret integration (DI). DI betyder, at aktører kan koble sig på dele af EU-samarbejdet på forskellige måder og niveauer. Studiet er et kvalitativt enkelt casestudie baseret på en systematisk gennemgang af EU’s og Ukraines politiske rammer samt to ekspertinterviews med danske dronevirksomheder. Analysen peger på to parallelle spor. For det første et hurtigt voksende bilateralt netværk med 41 dokumenterede samarbejder på tværs af 22 EU-lande. Samarbejdet foregår gennem fem former, herunder fælles produktion, teknologioverførsel og feedback-loops fra slagmarken (direkte erfaringer fra fronten, der hurtigt forbedrer løsninger), og det meste sker uden for CSDP’s formelle strukturer. For det andet et spirende EU-institutionelt spor via Det Europæiske Forsvarsagentur (EDA), Den Europæiske Forsvarsfond (EDF) og PESCO (et EU-samarbejde om forsvarskapaciteter), hvor ukrainske aktører har fået formel adgang til at deltage, men indtil videre har begrænset operationel involvering. Med udgangspunkt i Telle et al.’s (2025) definition af ekstern differentieret integration og Lavenex & Križić’s (2022) regulatoriske og organisatoriske dimensioner konkluderer afhandlingen, at Ukraines droneindustri gennemgår en gradvis ekstern differentieret integration primært på deltagelsesniveau snarere end på et fuldt institutionaliseret niveau. Udviklingen drives i højere grad af krigen, trusselsopfattelser og slagmarksbaseret innovation end af en formel tiltrædelseslogik.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]