French ‘non’ to open defence markets

France has raised objections to a European Commission proposal to open up national defence markets, warning that it could lose control over the export of defence-related products.

On 5 December last year, the Commission published a package of measures to boost an EU-wide market for defence products including a draft directive which would simplify the licensing procedures for military goods.

Speaking in Brussels on 27 February, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French state secretary for EU affairs, said that France had a "legal problem" with the proposal, as changes made to the way that products were authorised within the EU could also apply to those being exported. "We want to keep a certain control," Jouyet said, adding that France was seeking "legal safeguards" from the Commission.

Jouyet stressed that France was in favour of the Commission's proposal on transfers of defence products and has made reinforcement of EU defence policy one of its priorities for France's presidency of the EU in the second half of 2008. The state secretary said that the existing barriers to the exchange of products within the EU were a "block" on developing European defence policy.

France is expected to make new proposals on common defence procurement during its EU presidency as a way of winning new markets for its large defence industries and sharing the costs of major defence purchases with other EU partners.

France is currently drafting a white paper on defence outlining its future needs. This report is expected to stress the importance of greater co-operation in buying military equipment as a way of maximising the use of scarce public funds.

The initiatives are expected to cover equipment such as unmanned airplanes but may be extended to major investment projects such as intelligence-gathering satellites and missiles.

Currently defence products are protected from EU public procurement rules under an exemption from the treaty article guaranteeing the free movement of goods. The Commission's package aims to reduce this fragmentation through common rules on procurement procedures.

• Separately, the European Defence Agency has launched a number of initiatives to improve common procurement including an electronic bulletin board where participating countries post their procurement plans.

The Commission gave its first presentation of the package of measures to EU industry and economics ministers at the Competitiveness Council on 25 February.

France has raised objections to a European Commission proposal to open up national defence markets, warning that it could lose control over the export of defence-related products.