EU governments call for common armaments strategy

European government representatives have asked the European Defence Agency (EDA) to produce an “Armaments Strategy” to help meet future military needs and share the ever-increasing costs of developing and procuring high-technology defence equipment.

The two-day meeting of the EDA steering board on 8-9 April also ended with an agreement on specific measures to intensify defence collaboration, including work on key technologies and industrial capabilities to be retained or developed in Europe. Rules and procedures to help promote greater sharing of testing facilities and encourage more cross-border bids for defence equipment contracts were also agreed. 

The 26-member EDA was established in 2004 to support member states in their efforts to improve European defence capabilities. It serves all EU countries except Denmark, which has an opt-out on issues relating to defence. The agency’s main aim is to promote enhanced coherence on defence issues rather than the current fragmentation of national rules and policies. 

According to Eero Lavonen of the Finnish Defence Ministry, an armaments strategy is a key area which is missing from the EDA’s strategy. “It is high time to boost armaments cooperation under the EDA’s auspices. We have a tool at our disposal and we must use it fully,” he said. 

The future strategy would focus in particular on how to convert agreed defence capability needs into collaborative programmes. It should be presented in November to a ministerial meeting of the Steering Board, the agency’s highest decision-making body, on which governments and the European Commission are represented. 

The board also noted the steady growth in the number of government contract opportunities open to EU-wide competition since the EU’s code of conduct on defence procurement came into force. In 2007, 60 contracts worth €616 million were awarded. However, they pointed out that cross-border bidding by industry remained limited, with just 16 of the 60 projects carried out on a cross-border basis. 

Åke Svensson, the president of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), said industry fully supported the new EU defence procurement regime, but that more effective leadership at the highest levels of government was needed to ensure the initiative reaches its full potential. 

“From an industry perspective, we also need more common requirements that lead to more common development and procurement, especially of complex and advanced systems,” he added. 

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