Colmar, 13/09/2005 (Agence Europe) -The president of the defence committee of the French National Assembly, Guy Teissier, opened the third summer university on defence in Colmar on 12 September, an occasion which was attended by many European figures, including Nick Witney, director of the European Defence Agency, General Jean-Paul Perruche, Director-General of the European Union Military Staff, and Karl von Wogau (CDU), president of the sub-committee on defence of the European Parliament
Philippe Monfils, president of the committee on defence of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, took the opportunity offered by a press conference with his counterparts to resurrect the ideal of bringing in a Community preference in the defence market, in order to support the European industrial base and to guarantee Europe's independence. This point of view was not shared by his British colleague James Arbuthnot, who said that he preferred to support "the best equipment at the best price". He feels that it would be a mistake to exclude offers from the United States, which very often have the best technology for sale. Whilst he quite agrees with James Arbuthnot on purchasing, the president of the defence committee of the Danish Folketing, Karsten Mombo, said that he was annoyed at the excessive number of Danish opt outs and referred to the example of Finland, which joined the EU later than Denmark. "It cannot be said that Finland is at the heart of Europe, but Europe is at the heart of Finland", he added. An Italian member of Parliament pointed out that his country "looks to the United States a lot", but also co-operates with its European partners, referring to the example of the frigates under a Franco-Italian programme. The MEP Jan Christian Ehler (CDU) pleaded in favour of a gradual creation of a single defence market. He feels, as does Philippe Monfils, that the European defence industries would not be able to survive more than 20 years in closed-off national markets.