European multilateral defence procurement refers to the collective armaments purchasing policies of European nations.
European countries hope to establish a profitable export competing the American one.
Industry
In 2015, the German
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and French
Nexter
KNDS France (formerly known as Nexter, GIAT Industries or ''Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre'', Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Versailles. The company was wholly government-owne ...
merged under a joint holding company
KMW+Nexter Defense Systems. Both companies are major producers of military land systems.
Other major European defence contractors include:
*
Airbus Defence and Space
Airbus Defence and Space is a division of Airbus SE. Formed in 2014 in the restructuring of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Airbus SE comprises the former Airbus Military, Astrium, and divisions. Contributing 21% of Airbus reven ...
— (Europe)
*
Airbus Helicopters
Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
— (Europe)
*
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
— (UK)
*
Dassault Aviation
Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (Marcel Bloch Aircraft Company). After ...
— (France)
*
Damen Group
The Damen Group is a Dutch defence, shipbuilding, and engineering conglomerate company based in Gorinchem, Netherlands.
Though it is a major international group doing business in 120 countries, it remains a private family-owned company.
Dame ...
— (Netherlands)
*
Diehl Defence — (Germany)
*
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace — (Norway)
*
Leonardo S.p.A., including the former
AgustaWestland
AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccani ...
— (Italy)
*
Naval Group
Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris.
Heir to the French naval dockyards ...
— (France)
*
Navantia
Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding enterprise dedicated to civil and military naval construction, the design of deep-tech systems and the manufacture of structures for the renewable energy sector, such as offshore wind or hydrogen. ...
— (Spain)
*
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
— (Germany)
*
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
— (UK)
*
Saab Group
Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its development and ma ...
— (Sweden)
*
Safran
Safran S.A. () is a French Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace, defence industry, defence and computer security, security corporation headquartered in Paris. It designs, develops and manufactures both commercial and military airc ...
— (France)
*
Thales Group
Thales S.A., Trade name, trading as Thales Group (), is a French multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence industry, defence corporation specializing in electronics. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide variety of aer ...
— (France)
*
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems — (Germany)
Products
Then British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
came under pressure from President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
to select Raytheon's future missile to arm the Eurofighter, 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".
French President
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
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.
Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement
The European Union has adopted a code of conduct with the objective to inject
transparency and
competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...
into the military
procurement
Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...
. It is administered by the
EDA and under its scope are contracts under Article 346 of
TFEU
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establish ...
, of at least €1 million and with the exclusions of
weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...
,
cryptographic
Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...
equipment and other procurements.
As of 2009 the code is adopted by Norway and all EDA members except Romania, who may join later.
Key Facts About the Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement
/ref>
See also
* OCCAR
* European Border and Coast Guard Agency
* Common Security and Defence Policy
** European Defence Fund
** Permanent Structured Cooperation
** European Defence Agency
The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the EU High Represent ...
References
External links
The British Library - finding information on the defence industry (PDF file)
{{DEFAULTSORT:European Union Defence Procurement
Procurement
Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...
Military acquisition