Brussels, 13/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency (EDA), Defence Ministers agreed, on Monday 13 November, to entrust the EDA with a new joint research and development programme. The programme, which covers better protection for armed forces, will have a budget of €54.23 million.
Eighteen countries (Austria, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Portugal, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Netherlands, Greece and Sweden) out of the 24 EDA countries (Ed.: with Denmark excluded due to its opt-out on defence) have decided to take part. While the United Kingdom is the only large country that has decided to remain on the sidelines as the Agency receives its first new programme (it had already inherited a number of WEAG activities), France (€12 million), Poland and Germany (€10 million each) have become the three main contributors. The programme, which is initially to last three years, will cover five areas including collective survivability, individual protection, secured tactical wireless communication systems, data analysis and mission planning/training - within which the EDA has identified 18 areas of research. This work will be based on the development of an integrated specialist network within the European Union. The programme will be headed by a management committee representing contributors to oversee the selection and financing of individual projects under EDA presidency. Norway will also take part in the programme on the basis of a cooperation agreement with the EDA (it should be noted that a similar agreement with Turkey is still on the Council table and that Switzerland is also interested in signing an agreement of this kind).
The EDA Steering Board also took stock of developments in software defined radio, which is a significant move forward for communications as the aim is to allow a single radio to communicate on different networks (national, European, international and regional). The United States is a pioneer in this respect, and the EU has entrusted EDA with the task of reflecting on the best way to coordinate work in this sphere within the EU. While the EDA and the European Commission (that have invested a great deal of money in this field given the fact that it has both civilian and military implications) are collaborating in the long-term with a view to defining a framework for 2015-2020, five Member States announced on Monday that an “ad hoc” programme would be launched within the framework of the Agency with a view to producing the next generation of interoperable SDR as soon as possible, to be used from 2010-2015. The countries in question are France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Finland, which are expected to inject around €100 million over the next four years to develop the European Secured Software Defined Radio Referential (ESSOR). This project aims to promote interoperability within NATO. (oj)