EU Ministers Welcome EDA Ideas to Increase Defence R&T

Published: May 16, 2006
Source: www.eda.europa.eu



European Union defence ministers today welcomed proposals from the European Defence Agency for a new funding vehicle to help meet their goal of increasing investment in Defence Research & Technology and significantly raising the share of funds spent on European collaborative efforts.

At a meeting of the Steering Board of the EDA, the ministers acknowledged that not enough was being invested in Defence R&T to sustain the technological base they wanted and that Europe needed.

“The need for a step-change in European Defence R&T performance is now clearer than ever. Collectively we are investing less than 1.5% of defence spending in the future of Europe’s defence technological base,” said Javier Solana, Head of the Agency, who chaired the meeting.

The ministers also gave final approval to a Code of Best Practice in the Supply Chain to help smaller companies benefit from moves to introduce more cross-border competition into defence procurement under a new voluntary Code of Conduct which will take effect from July 1.

“This is the final piece in the jigsaw which means that we are now ready to deliver a real boost to Europe’s defence industries, opening up opportunities in new markets and ensuring a better deal for taxpayers on defence spending,” Solana said.

The Steering Board agreed that the new funding mechanism, which would be managed by those governments who choose to participate in a particular programme, and the definition of the first R&T programme on Force Protection, should be ready by the end of June to allow those governments who want to participate to set aside funds from their 2007 budgets.

At their summit in Hampton Court last October, EU leaders called for an increase in Europe’s investment in Defence R&T to help improve military capabilities for EU crisis-management operations.

According to data collected by the EDA, its 24 members (all EU states except Denmark) expect to spend a little under 2.5 billion Euros on defence R&T this year, with only about one-tenth of the money going on collaborative projects in Europe.

The Steering Board also reviewed progress on improving specific European defence capabilities, another aspect of the Hampton Court Agenda. They welcomed the progress made, noting that a number of promising initiatives are maturing in the Command, Control and Communication area, and called for more work to help fill significant gaps in the areas of strategic lift and air-to-air refuelling.

“The Code of Conduct on defence procurement is an example of how the Agency can make a real difference,” EDA Chief Executive Nick Witney said. “Today’s discussion has demonstrated that we are also well on track to deliver concrete results on the Hampton Court agenda but both the Agency, and the participating Member States, still have a lot of work to do,”
--- ends ---