European multilateral defence procurement

How the continent collectively obtains its weapons

The Eurofighter was developed, produced and procured by several European nations

European multilateral defence procurement refers to the collective armaments purchasing policies of European nations.^{[citation needed]}

European countries hope to establish a profitable export competing the American one.^[1]

Industry

In 2015, the German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and French Nexter merged under a joint holding company KMW+Nexter Defense Systems. Both companies are major producers of military land systems.^[2]

Other major European defence contractors include:

Airbus Defence and Space
Airbus Helicopters
Dassault Aviation
Damen Group
Diehl Defence
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
Leonardo S.p.A., including the former AgustaWestland
Naval Group
Navantia
Rheinmetall
Rolls-Royce
Saab Group
Safran
Thales Group
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems

Products

Then British Prime Minister Tony Blair came under pressure from President Bill Clinton to select Raytheon's future missile to arm the Eurofighter,^[3] however the UK government selected the European Meteor air-to-air missile.

Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders has called the difficulties in coordinating European investment in the A400M program a "horror", and said "I am determined, at least for my company, not to ever again walk into such a program".^[4]

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have signalled their countries intention to co-operate on the development of a future combat aircraft to be produced as a replacement for Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon.^[5]^[6]

Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement

The European Union has adopted a code of conduct^[7] with the objective to inject transparency and competition into the military procurement. It is administered by the EDA and under its scope are contracts under Article 346 of TFEU, of at least €1 million and with the exclusions of weapons of mass destruction, cryptographic equipment and other procurements.

As of 2009 the code is adopted by Norway and all EDA members except Romania, who may join later.^[8]

References

^ Hawranek, Dietmar; Dettmer, Markus; Beste, Ralf (11 July 2011). "A New Arms Race: Exports Booming for German Weapons Manufacturers". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
^ "Nexter Systems and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann have completed their association" (PDF) (Press release). Amsterdam: KMW, Nexter. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
^ Baumgardner, Neil (16 September 1999). "Raytheon Offers Joint Development of New Missile with UK". Defense Daily. Phillips Business Information, Inc.
^ Bruno, Michael (2 May 2014). "A400M: The Horror, The Horror". aviationweek.com. Penton. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
^ Hoyle, Craig (20 July 2017). "Franco-German fighter proposal gains momentum". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
^ Tran, Pierre (14 July 2017). "France and Germany agree to jointly build new generation fighter jet". Defense News. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
^ The Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement
^ Key Facts About the Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement

External links

The British Library - finding information on the defence industry (PDF file) Archived 10 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine

Foreign relations of the European Union

Bilateral relations

See also: Economic relationships with third countries
Africa	Algeria Cape Verde Egypt Libya Morocco South Africa Sudan Tunisia
Americas	Argentina trade Brazil Canada Cuba Greenland Mexico Peru United States Uruguay
Asia	Bahrain Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Lebanon Malaysia Nepal North Korea Pakistan Palestine† Philippines South Korea Syria Taiwan Vietnam Yemen
Europe	Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Faroe Islands Georgia Accession negotiations Iceland Kosovo† Liechtenstein Moldova Accession negotiations Monaco Montenegro North Macedonia Northern Cyprus† Norway Russia San Marino Serbia Sovereign Military Order of Malta Switzerland Turkey Accession negotiations Ukraine Accession negotiations United Kingdom Vatican City
Oceania	Australia Micronesia New Zealand Papua New Guinea
Former	Yugoslavia
General	Overseas territories of member states European microstates Largest trading partners Association Agreements Free trade agreements European Union Sanctions
†= Disputed state, may not be recognised as an independent state by some or all European Union members.

Multilateral relations and initiatives

Organisations

Initiatives

Administration and policies

Foreign and Security Policy	Global Strategy Neighbourhood Policy Enlargement Security and Defence Policy
Administration	Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development External Action Service Foreign Affairs Council High Representative Josep Borrell Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign Policy Instruments Service Diplomatic missions of the EU (ambassadors) / to the EU Special Representatives
Funding	Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Global Europe

Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union

Leadership

Structure

External Action Service	Command structure on the civilian/military strategic and operational levels (Military Planning and Conduct Capability within the Military Staff, Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability, Joint Support Coordination Cell) Intelligence and Situation Centre (Club de Berne) Crisis Management and Planning Directorate Security & Defence College
Agencies	Defence Agency Institute for Security Studies Satellite Centre
Council preparatory bodies	Committee of Permanent Representatives Political and Security Committee Politico-Military Group Military Committee Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management
European Commission bodies	Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space
Funding	Defence Fund

Policies

Equipment

Galileo navigation system
Secure Software-defined Radio (PESCO)

Decorations

Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO)
Headline Goal 2010
Military Erasmus
Military Mobility (PESCO)
Intelligence School (PESCO)
Kortenberg building
NATO relations (Berlin Plus agreement, Joint Declaration)

v t e Defence Materiel Procurement Agencies
Sovereign states	Australia Bangladesh Denmark France Germany Ireland (Navy) Israel Japan Netherlands Norway Singapore South Korea Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Turkey United Kingdom United States (Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force)
Other	Europe European Union