EU’s long-term defence vision

Alexander Weis, the European Defence Agency’s incoming chief executive, will be hoping to ensure that member states get more value for money. Andrew Beatty reports.

When Alexander Weis takes over as chief executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA) on 1 October, he will inherit a challenging legacy from the incumbent Nick Witney.

On his desk he will find a ‘long-term vision’ document which places European defence efforts in a global context - although it is not exactly pleasant reading given China’s rapid transformation, Europe’s sclerotic decision-making and its ageing, risk-averse population.

Weis will also find the snappily titled ‘Strategy for the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base’ (DTIB) which was agreed on 14 May by the 26 EU member states that participate in the European Defence Agency (Denmark does not take part).

Essentially the document examines how Europe decides what weapons it wants to buy, how they are developed and who they will be bought from.

As Witney wrote in European Voice last week, it is an unusually trenchant manuscript.

The DTIB strategy tells a similar story to the ‘long-term vision’: the EU is facing increased competition from Asia and the US while its competitiveness is declining.

The upshot is that the EU’s independence is at risk and its troops are not getting the most technically advanced equipment.

Much of the discourse about the DTIB sounds like the current debate on the EU’s energy security - if reforms are not made, dependence on outside resources will grow and consequentially the EU will be weaker vis-à-vis its competitors and allies.

"We recognise that a point has now been reached when we need fundamental change in how we manage the ‘business aspects’ of defence in Europe," the report says.

It describes a situation where 26 governments make separate decisions to fund research and contract almost as many firms to do the work.

The EDA’s prescription is perhaps unsurprising. The suggested solution is to pool resources: "A fully adequate DTIB is no longer sustainable on a strictly national basis," it says.

The charge against the existing system is that it is unnecessarily duplicative, expensive and does not lend itself to innovation.

But to change the current state of affairs, observers say that Weis will have to challenge the fiefdoms created by ministries of defence and the cosy relationship between governments and their national defence industry.

Although EU military spending is outstripped by that of the US, the industry is still worth billions of euros.

The EDA has published figures for 2005 (the last year for which figures are available) which show that the 24 member states which were then members of the agency (Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on 1 January this year) spend €193 billion on defence.

But governments mostly buy products from their national industry.

Defence firms, accused of being less multinational than their counterparts in other sectors, say that an EU market does not exist to allow them to sell across borders.

Before the end of the year, the European Commission is to put forward a directive on defence procurement, making it more difficult for member states to dodge public procurement rules on the grounds of national security.

In the end, economic arguments may win over defence buyers.

The EDA hopes that future cutbacks in defence spending will force ministries of defence to look for better deals for their shrinking budgets and to pool resources in order to get more "bang for their buck".

Alexander Weis, the European Defence Agency’s incoming chief executive, will be hoping to ensure that member states get more value for money. Andrew Beatty reports.