Brussels, 19/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - How can the EU's industrial and technological base for defence be enhanced? The 24 National Armaments Directors of the EU Member States (except Denmark which has a defence “opt-out”) are to meet on Wednesday 20 September within the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board to seek to identify the best means to achieve this. While apparently aware of the need to develop a European approach, they will mainly reflect on the role that the EDA can play in this respect. The EDA Steering Board will also take stock of implementation of the code of conduct in effect since 1 July for opening up the EU defence equipment market, and especially of the new electronic bulletin available on the EDA website on which Member States inform their partners of calls for tenders in the defence equipments sector. Since the system was launched, 43 calls for tenders have been noted from 8 Member States out of the 22 that decided to take part (France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Portugal and Poland). The Steering Board should also approve two EDA proposals aimed at strengthening implementation of the code of conduct: one on supply security, which aims to ensure that each Member State can have almost immediate access to its partners' resources in event of crisis; and the other which aims to make the exchange of information between defence industries and Member States more systematic.
We point out, moreover, that three other meetings of the EDA Steering Board are scheduled to take place this autumn: - on the sidelines of the informal EU Defence Minister's meeting on 1 and 2 October in Kittila, Finland, during which they may hold a first discussion on EU capabilities in the run up to 2025; - on the fringe of the formal EU Defence Minsters' meeting during November; - and during December on capability issues.