Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is threefold: firstly, to offer a historical profile of Europe’s arms industrial collaborative experience; secondly, to evaluate the process and impact of major European collaborative programs, especially with regard to research and development (R&D); and, thirdly, to explore the contemporary status of collaborative effort in the light of recent EU policy initiatives, including the 2009 European Procurement Directive and the contemporary pressures and challenges that have forged the shape and direction of the EU’s Horizon 2020 Defence Research Programme. In this regard, the Commission’s underlying thematic is to evolve the European defense industrial base into a single common entity. Arms collaboration is viewed as a transformative device in this process, promoting cross-border engagement, enhancing military-related standardization and fostering economies of scale and industrial and technological rationalization. The chapter will analyze progress toward these goals, advancing our understanding of the topic through empirical assessment of the collaborative model’s contribution to the sustainability and enhancement of European defense R&D in a post-BREXIT environment.
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Notes
- 1.
In October 1975 the European Commission submitted to the Council of Ministers what it called the ‘Action Programme for the European Aeronautical Sector’, Communication R /2461/75. The main proposal of the action program was the proposal for the creation of a common policy in the civil aircraft and aviation sector, supplemented by a draft resolution on the establishment of an EEC military procurement agency. See Hansard 1978.
- 2.
This is similar wording to Article 296. See Commission of the European Communities (2006).
- 3.
- 4.
Defense offset can take several forms, but in the context of licensed production, it is categorized as direct offset. This is where a country procuring defense equipment demands that the offshore vendor transfers technology to enable local production to take place. See Matthews (2014: 85).
- 5.
Australia’s model is based on flexibility and partnership, with offshore vendor investment targeted on prioritizing domestic industrial capabilities.
- 6.
Interview, anonymous Royal Navy officer working on the ACA program, 5 May 2017.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Interview with Rolls-Royce executives, January 2000. Cited in Matthews (2001: 79).
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Matthews, R. (2018). European Collaboration in the Development of New Weapon Systems. In: Karampekios, N., Oikonomou, I., Carayannis, E. (eds) The Emergence of EU Defense Research Policy. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68807-7_7
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