Six European Nations sign defence industry restructuring treaty

The Farnborough Air Show saw the signing of a treaty between the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden that establishes "...practical measures to facilitate the restructuring and operation of the European Defence Industry. This paves the way for more effective defence equipment and industrial co-operation in Europe."

The treaty is designed to establish practical and specific measures for improved co-operation on security of supply, export procedures, handling of classified information, treatment of technical information, research and technology and harmonisation of military requirements. Detailed implementation arrangements to broaden co-operation will be negotiated in the future.

Geoffrey Hoon, UK Defence Minister, said, "This is a major development in European defence equipment co-operation. There are clear benefits for each country's defence industry in a Treaty which can help remove obstacles to industrial co-operation and promote improved equipment cooperation in Europe."

Denying that the six governments were seeking to impose a blueprint on the European defence industry, Hoon said that Governments had a responsibility to "...lay out a pitch on which companies could play. It is then for the companies to decide what game to play"

For example, it commits the six Parties not to unnecessarily hinder the supply of defence materiel produced in their territory to the other Parties and to work together on the broader aspects of Security of Supply to ensure national security interests are not prejudiced in peacetime, times of crisis and armed conflict.

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