All Resources: The European Defense Industry

Elisabeth Sköns

Online Resources

Organizations and research institutes

BICC. Bonn International Center for Conversion

EU: The European Union On-Line
The official EU web site.

The European Union Institute for Security Studies, EUISS.
Previously part of the Western European Union (WEU), the EUISS since 1 Jan. 2002 has been part of the EU. This organization produces the Chaillot papers, a series that is of special interest to students of the European defense industry. These are available in full text.

NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The official NATO web site.

SIPRI, The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
The SIPRI project on arms production provides a summary of recent trends in arms production, a list of the top 100 arms-producing companies, and links to relevant Internet sites of governments and defence industry associations.

Documents

From Nice to Laeken—European defence: core documents.
Compiled by Maartje Rutten. (Paris: EU Institute for Security Studies, Chaillot Paper, no. 51, Apr. 2002)

Text of the Letter of Intent, signed on 6 July 1998.

Text of the Framework Agreement, signed on 27 July 2000.

News services

Defense-aerospace.com
Daily news and information on aerospace and defense. Free access.

Defense Systems Daily
Daily news and information on aerospace and defense. Free access.

Bibliographical Essay

Background and critical issues

In order to gain an understanding of the background to contemporary developments in the European defense industry and the critical issues involved, several reports produced in the early 1990s constitute a useful introduction to the subject. As it became clear in the late 1980s that the end of the Cold War would have a significant impact on the defense industry, the topic became the subject of much analysis during this time. Three such early comprehensive studies are: Pauline Creasey and Simon May, eds., The European Arms Market and Procurement Cooperation (London: Macmillan, 1988); Michael Brzoska and Peter Lock, eds., Restructuring of Arms Production in Western Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), which offers a comprehensive empirical account with a number of country case studies; and William Walker and Philip Gummett, Nationalism, Internationalism and the European Defence Market (Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies, Chaillot Papers, no. 9. Sept. 1993), which deals with the conceptual and political issues involved in the internationalization of the European defense industry.

Implications for transatlantic relations

The implications of developments in the European defense industry for transatlantic relations are analyzed in James Steinberg, The Transformation of the West European Defense Industry: Emerging Trends and Prospects for Future U.S.-European Competition and Collaboration (Rand Report, R-4141-ACQ, 1992); and John Lovering, "The transatlantic factor in the restructuring of the European defence industry," in The Restructuring of the European Defence Industry: Dynamics of Change (European Commission, Directorate-General for Research. COST Action 10. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001).

The legal framework for European arms production

The legal issues involved in the internationalization of the European defense industry have been comprehensibly described in Sibylle Bauer and Rachel Winks, "The institutional framework for European arms policy co-operation," also in The Restructuring of the European Defence Industry: Dynamics of Change.

Annual surveys of developments in the European arms industry

Annual surveys on developments in arms production, including developments in Europe, are provided in the following yearbooks: Conversion Survey, produced by the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC); and SIPRI Yearbook, produced by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The most recent survey is Elisabeth Sköns and Reinhilde Weidacher, Arms Production. SIPRI Yearbook 2002: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Stockholm: SIPRI/Oxford University Press, 2002). Summaries of recent trends in arms production are available at URL: http://www.sipri.org.

European integration of defense policy and defense

The restructuring of the European defense industry is part of the broader issue of the integration of European defense policy and functions. Two excellent sources on this topic from two different European perspectives are: Jolyon Howorth, European Integration and Defence: The Ultimate Challenge (Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies, Chaillot Papers, no. 43, Nov. 2000. Available in full text at URL: http://www.iss-eu.org/chaillot/chai43e.html); and Francois Heisbourg, et al, European Defence: Making it Work (Paris: European Union Institute for Security Studies, Chaillot Papers, no. 42, Sept. 2000. Available in full text at URL: http://www.iss-eu.org/chaillot/chai42e.html).

The international system of arms production

For a more general understanding of the theoretical implications and historical relevance of study of the European defense industry, the basic sources are Paul Dunne, "The defense industrial base," in Todd Sandler and Keith Hartley, eds., Handbook of Defense Economics, Vol. 1 (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1995); Ethan Kapstein, ed., Global Arms Production: Policy Dilemmas for the 1990s (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1992); and Keith Krause, Arms and the State: Patterns of Military Production and Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).

Globalization and the defense industry

The internationalization of the European defense industry within the broader context of economic globalization has been the subject of several studies since the early 1990s. Among these is Raymond Vernon and Ethan B. Kapstein, eds., Defense & Dependence in a Global Economy (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1992). This was the first comprehensive analysis of the new trends in global arms production after the end of the Cold War and their implications. It is still one of the most relevant sources on the subject. Also useful is Elisabeth Sköns, "Western Europe: Internationalization of the Arms Industry," in Herbert Wulf, ed., Arms Industry Limited (Oxford: SIPRI/Oxford University Press, 1993), which is an attempt to systematize the forms of internationalization evident in arms production and to catalog their main drivers. Another important source is David Held, Anthony McGrew, David Goldblatt, and Jonathan Perraton, Global Transformations (London: Polity Press, 1999). This volume seeks to develop an analysis of economic globalization that is historically grounded and set in an analytical framework. One of the sectors studied is the military sector, including the defense industry. It is based on several of the sources above and provides a very interesting summary of the literature. Finally, Axelsson with Andrew James, Globalisation: Its Impact on the Defence Industry (Stockholm: The Swedish Defence Research Establishment, FOA-R-98, Sept. 2000) is a summary of the literature on current developments in the arms industry from the perspective of their implications for the European defense industry.

Relevant Documents

European Commission. The challenges facing the European defence-related industry: contribution for action at European level. Communication COM (96) 10 final. Brussels, 25 January 1996.

European Commission. Implementing European strategy on defence-related industries. Communication COM (97) 583 final. Brussels, 12 November 1997.

Framework Agreement [between France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the UK] concerning measures to facilitate the restructuring and operation of the European defence industry, signed at Farnborough on 27 July 2000. Available at http://projects.sipri.se/expcon/loi/indrest02.htm.

Letter of Intent between 6 defense ministers on measures to facilitate the restructuring of the European defense industry. Signed in London on 6 July 1998. Available at http://projects.sipri.se/expcon/loi/loisign.htm.