THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
A new large aerospace programme will strengthen and streamline the industry
Europe needs to preserve technologies, capabilities and talent in defence by Domingo Ureña Raso, CEO, Airbus Military, Madrid
Once again, Europe has the opportunity to build a common approach to its defence policy. This December the EU Council should agree to address key topics that will shape the capabilities of the Union in Defence and Security for the coming decades, precisely at a time of economic constraints and growing doubts about the role of the European institutions. The aim of this Council will be to increase the effectiveness and enhance the development of capabilities and to strengthen Europe’s defence industry, and we fully support this.
We need some common sense agreements to tackle this issue: we must protect technology and capabilities to generate innovation, avoid wasteful duplication in those capabilities, create or reinforce a truly European Defence Agency (the EDA could be the basis for this, or an amalgamated EDA/OCCAR) and define some large transversal and multinational projects that will foster technology and help bond industrial capabilities, as has happened in the past.
The market demands a European champion We need common sense agreements Despite discussions in 2005, no clear progress has been made since on the matter. The issues that Europe will have to face are well known: the national interest placed above the European interest; protection of the national champion as a matter of national pride, a very fragmented market with unlimited local specifications, and above all no European vision able to provide clear guidelines to the industry for the future.
The first A400M delivered to the French Air Force
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The consolidation of the defence industry in Europe is a pending issue that must be resolved. Duplication of efforts increases costs and reduces efficiency. Competition is good, but the market demands a real European champion with enough power to be able to compete on an equal footing with its mainly American rivals. Also, the industry needs to be managed on more commercial terms. We all know and accept that the defence industry
© Airbus Military 2013, by e m company / A. Doumenjou
