11 European Defence Agency
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8707/10
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| Head of the European Defence Agency's Report to the Council
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| Legal base | —
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| Date originated | 26 April 2010
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| Deposited in Parliament | 25 May 2010
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| Department | Defence
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| Basis of consideration | Supplementary EM of 23 February 2011
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| Previous Committee Reports | HC 428-iii (2010-11), chapter 20 (13 October 2010); also see HC 5-iv (2009-10), chapter 3 (15 December 2009); (30175) —; (30176) 15442/08 —; and (30212) —: HC 19-ii (2008-09), chapter 10 (17 December 2009); also see (29701) HC 16-xxv (2007-08), chapter 15 (25 June 2008) ; and (28212) and (29268) HC16-xi (2007-08), chapter 1 and (29341-3) HC16-xi (2007-08), chapter 2 (6 February 2008)
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| Discussed in Council | 26 April 2010 Foreign Affairs Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared (reported to the House on 13 October 2010); further information now provided
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Background
11.1 The European Defence Agency (EDA) was established under
2004/551/CFSP on 12 July 2004, "to support the Member States
and the Council in their effort to improve European defence capabilities
in the field of crisis management and to sustain the European
Security and Defence Policy as it stands now and develops in the
future".
FUNCTIONS AND TASKS
11.2 It has four functions, covering:
- developing defence capabilities;
- promoting Defence Research and Technology (R&T);
- promoting armaments co-operation;
- creating a competitive European Defence Equipment Market and
strengthening the European Defence, Technological and Industrial
Base.
11.3 According to its website, these functions all relate
to improving Europe's defence performance, by promoting coherence:
"a more integrated approach to capability development will
contribute to better-defined future requirements on which collaborations
— in armaments or R&T or the operational domain —
can be built. More collaboration will, in turn, provide opportunities
for industrial restructuring and progress towards the continental-scale
demand and market, which industry needs."
11.4 On this basis, the Agency's tasks include:
- to work for a more comprehensive and systematic approach to
defining and meeting the capability needs of the European Security
and Defence Policy (ESDP);
- to promote European defence-relevant R&T, as vital both
to a healthy defence technological and industrial base and to
defining and satisfying future capability requirements. This will
involve pursuing collaborative use of national defence R&T
funds, in the context of a European Defence R&T Strategy which
identifies priorities;
- to promote European cooperation on defence equipment, both
to contribute to defence capabilities and as a catalyst for further
restructuring the European defence industry;
- to work, in close cooperation with the Commission, on steps
towards an internationally competitive market for defence equipment
in Europe.
11.5 The EDA says that its "comparative advantage"
should be "its ability to comprehend all these agendas, and
relate them so as to realise their synergies. Its special position
should allow it to develop uniquely cogent analyses and proposals
across the range of its activities."
STRUCTURE
11.6 The EDA is an Agency of the European Union. The High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
(HR; Baroness Ashton) is Head of the Agency and chairs its decision-making
body, the Steering Board, which is composed of Defence Ministers
of the 26 participating Member States (all EU Member States, except
Denmark) and the European Commission. In addition, the Steering
Board meets regularly at sub-ministerial levels, such as National
Armaments Directors or Capability Directors.
11.7 The Steering Board acts under the Council's Authority
and within the framework of guidelines issued by the Council,
and meets twice yearly — in May and November.
11.8 Unanimity is required for decisions on role, goals and
targets; QMV for internal operations.
WAY OF WORKING
11.9 The EDA's website explains:
"The Agency faces outwards. Its main 'shareholders' are the
Member States participating in the Agency; key stakeholders include
the Council and the Commission as well as third parties such as
OCCAR (fr. Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière
d'ARmement),[63] LoI
(Letter of Intent) and NATO. The Agency has a special relationship
with Norway (through an 'Administrative Arrangement')."[64]
11.10 The Committee was fully engaged in the development of
the EDA, culminating in a debate in June 2004 in European Standing
Committee B.[65] There,
the then Secretary of State stated that its principal purpose
would be to improve Member States' military capabilities.
11.11 As previous reports note, a recurrent feature of the
Agency's history thus far had been a failure by the participating
Member States to reach agreement on the level of growth in the
financial framework, with the UK favouring annual budgets rather
than a three year framework; while others continued to hanker
after a more expansive approach, the UK had pursued a pragmatic
approach of broad, active engagement, participation in some projects
but not all, maintaining budgetary discipline and encouraging
the Agency to focus on where the then Government judged that the
Agency could best add value.
11.12 The previous Committee noted that the kaleidoscope had
been given a significant shake by the Lisbon Treaty, as a result
of which — through the provisions on Common Security and
Defence Policy in Articles 42 to 46 — the European Defence
Agency had been formally incorporated into the EU Treaty; and
that there were also changes to the way in which European Security
and Defence Policy would be managed — not the least of which
being that the EDA chair would now also chair the Foreign Affairs
Council. This was why they also judged that a further debate would
be timely, to allow a more thorough examination of the way in
which the then Government and interested members saw the EDA now
developing. That debate took place in the European Committee on
1 March 2010, at the conclusion of which the Committee took note
of an unnumbered Explanatory Memorandum dated 10 December 2009,
Report by the Head of the European Defence Agency to the Council
on activities in 2009, and European Union Documents No. 16275/09,
European Defence Agency document on three year financial framework
2010-2012, postponement and 2010 Budget adoption and No. 16462/09,
European Defence Agency Guidelines for the Agency's work in 2010;
and supported "the Government's aim of ensuring that the
EDA is used to deliver enhanced military capability across the
EU".[66]
The Head of the Agency's Report
11.13 As before, this report described progress on the Agency's
main output areas and provided an overview of certain capability
development programmes, including Helicopter Training, Third
Party Logistic Support, the Pooling and Sharing of Capabilities;
the European Framework Co-operation for defence research and
technology; and the next steps for long term strategies relating
to defence industrial base, such as the European Defence Equipment
Market (EDEM), Code of Conduct on Defence Procurement (CoC)
and components of the European Defence Technological and
Industrial Base (EDTIB).
11.14 The report also noted that preparatory work by the Agency
is underway to replace, later this year, the Council Joint Action
of 2004 establishing the EDA with a new Council Decision on the
Agency's statute, seat and operational rules in accordance with
the provisions of the amended EU Treaty.
11.15 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 27 July 2010, the Minister
for International Security Strategy at the Ministry of Defence
(Mr Gerald Howarth) said that:
"For the time being we will continue to participate in the
European Defence Agency but, as part of the work on the Strategic
Defence and Security Review (SDSR), we are reviewing all aspects
of our defence engagement with international institutions, including
the EDA, to ensure that it matches the UK's priorities and interests."
Our assessment
11.16 As the previous Committee had done, we again reported
these developments to the House because of the widespread interest
in the development of a European defence industry and strategy
and in ESDP, and drew this chapter of our Report to the attention
of the Defence Committee.
11.17 We also look forward to scrutinising the Council Decision
on the Agency's statute, seat and operational rules in due course,
and in the meantime cleared the Head of Agency's Report.
The Minister's Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum
11.18 In his Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum of 23 February
2011, the Minister for International Security Strategy at the
Ministry of Defence (Mr Gerald Howarth) now outlines in more detail
his views on some of the EDA's major initiatives and programmes,
as follows:
CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN (CDP)
"The EDA, alongside the EU Military Committee, has established
a CDP, which is designed to align future capability trends with
current shortfalls based on European Defence Planning Process
outcomes. Seen as best practice, the CDP brings together the plans
and programmes of Member States and lessons from operations to
produce a product that helps inform them on the critical capability
shortfalls. In June 2008 participating Member States voted on
the top 12 priority areas[67]
for Capability Development. The UK supports the work of
the Agency on the CDP process and welcomes regular reviews to
the CDP to ensure that it remains an up-to-date tool to guide
the EDA's activities.
HELICOPTER TRAINING
"The EU and NATO (through NAMSA) are playing complementary
roles to address critical helicopter capability shortfalls. Where
NATO runs a programme to upgrade airframes, the EDA is leading
on aircrew training, and there has been excellent coordination
and cooperation between the two organisations. The UK is the lead
framework nation for the synthetic training programme, which will
provide mission-essential tactics trainings and deliver 50+ aircrews
over the next two years, trained to the standards needed to cope
with high threat and extreme environmental conditions. This project
has clear benefits for operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
THIRD PARTY LOGISTIC SUPPORT (TPLS)
"The EDA has developed an internet facility to advertise
and secure TPLS. This enables nations to publicise their logistics
support requirements and identify companies that have the required
expertise in mission and operations-related logistics. It is not,
however, a contracting platform, and the EDA does not have visibility
of contracts that might have been placed following use of the
TPLS. Participating Member States of the EDA have used it to advertise
requirements posed by their Common Security and Defence Policy
(CSDP) missions (including ATALANTA, ALTHEA and EULEX KOSOVO).
Access to the TPLS facility was recently extended to international
organisations outside the EU.
POOLING AND SHARING OF CAPABILITIES
"The EDA has hosted workshops for Member States on 'Pooling
and Sharing'. Most suggestions made to date have made generic
reference for more common training, logistics, medical and technical
support without any supporting detail. Many smaller Member States
see this as the only way to contribute and move forward and have
pushed for greater technical support and expertise with calls
to either benchmark/follow best practice. Regional pooling/sharing
between smaller states or with a larger nation are potential areas
for further development. While the UK has not participated in
any of the pooling and sharing work that the EDA has worked on
to date, we support the idea in principle and have offered our
ideas on pooling/sharing best practice, such as NATO's Strategic
Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS). The initiative has the potential
to improve the scope for greater burden sharing across our European
allies. In addition, the outcomes of the Strategic Defence and
Security Review mean that there will be more emphasis on collaboration
in the future.
MULTINATIONAL SPACE-BASED IMAGERY SYSTEMS (MUSIS)
"MUSIS will be a Multinational Space-Based Imaging System
for surveillance, reconnaissance and observation to ensure continuity
of service from the current HELIOS II, SAR-Lupe, COSMO-SkyMed
and Pleiades systems. Six nations (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain,
France and Italy) have signed a Letter of Intent to develop MUSIS
in cooperation for surveillance, reconnaissance and observation
to take over from the current capabilities in the future. Space
derived data is vital to MOD operations and we are observing the
direction and progress on MUSIS, though we do not currently have
a financial subscription to the programme.
FUTURE TRANSPORT HELICOPTER (FTH)
"The aim of the EDA Future Transport Helicopter, a Franco-German
project, is to equip forces with heavy transport helicopters towards
the end of the next decade. The UK has currently chosen not to
participate in this project as it is not aligned with the UK's
current strategy for rotary heavy lift.
EDA/OCCAR ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENT
"An objective of the French EU Presidency (July-December
2008) was to deliver an agreement between the EDA and OCCAR (Organisation
for Joint Armament Co-operation) to improve collaborative working
arrangements between the two organisations on key military programmes.
The Administrative Agreement would cover the principles of the
relationship between the EDA and OCCAR, the provisions for consultations
between the two parties and security matters. It has so far been
blocked by Cyprus despite much work being done on the issues in
Brussels, particularly by the UK and France. The UK has been working
hard to ensure that we do not import the Turkey-Cyprus-Greece
political problem into OCCAR and will therefore not agree to texts
that risk doing so. We remain hopeful that the appropriate Administrative
Agreement text can be agreed.
MARITIME SURVEILLANCE (MARSUR)
"The Maritime Surveillance (MARSUR) project was set up in
2006 when Member States recognised the benefits of improved maritime
situational awareness to support the CSDP and wider related maritime
missions with the aim of creating a recognised maritime picture
by networking systems together across Europe. A limited technological
demonstrator will be delivered by the EDA in summer 2011. In addition,
the EDA commissioned a report on the requirement for Maritime
Surveillance, known as the "Wise Pens report"(published
in April 2010) to stimulate wider discussion on this issue within
the EU. We note the wider debate on Maritime Surveillance in support
of CSDP that the report has generated.
EUROPEAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGICAL AND INDUSTRIAL BASE (EDTIB)
"The European Defence Technological and Industrial Base strategy,
adopted in 2007, sets out important policy objectives and enablers
to consolidate demand, increase investment and competition thereby
ensuring better security of supply in the European Technological
Industrial Base. The first key sector identified for strengthening
is Future Air Systems, in particular the industrial bases for
Helicopters, Unmanned Ariel Vehicles and Combat Aircraft. To support
this work the Member States made a joint declaration to identify
and examine the obstacles to the creation of a level playing field
for defence industry, such as help for Small/Medium Enterprises
and market awareness and examination of market distorting factors.
The UK supports the EDA's work to develop a rationalised, more
efficient and responsive EDTIB. We must, however, recognise the
sovereignty of participating Member States and the need for specific
EDTIB capabilities on their national territory, together with
sovereign control of defence R&D budgets.
EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK CO-OPERATION FOR DEFENCE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
"A European Framework Cooperation (EFC) via an EDA Joint
Investment Programme (JIP) is the proposal to develop a coordinated
approach to security and defence research undertaken within the
European Commission (Framework Programme 7, and from 2014 Framework
Programme 8), European Space Agency and the EDA.
"The lead candidates for the EFC are Chemical, Biological,
Radioactive, Nuclear (CBRN detection, decontamination and medical
countermeasures), Unmanned Air Systems (UAS insertion into European
airspace) and Situation Awareness (data acquisition). Counter-Improvised
Explosive Devices (C-IED) may be considered later. The EDA is
currently preparing the CBRN Joint Investment Programme (JIP),
with the technical content and terms & conditions being developed
by the CBRN JIP management committee. The UAS JIP is less well
developed with the requirement and scope of the programme still
under discussion. The Situation Awareness JIP is also in the early
stages of staffing and is somewhat less developed than either
the CBRN or UAS JIP.
"Although we support the idea of better coordination for
R&T activities, we continue to have a number of concerns,
including the current lack of a defined military requirement for
the Unarmed Air Systems Joint Investment Programme, the precise
scope of the EFC programme and, importantly, how the outputs from
the work will be used to support capability development.
EDA/EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE AGREEMENT
"To exploit potential synergies between the civil and military
space programmes, the EDA plans to establish an Administrative
Agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA). This would deepen
co-operation between the two organisations. At present, the UK
is content to note the Agency's work on developing a draft Administrative
Agreement between EDA and ESA.
FUTURE AIR SYSTEMS
"One of the EDTIB Strategy's key actions was for participating
Member States to 'undertake the wider task of determining which
key industrial capacities we must preserve or develop in Europe'.
Very early on EDA and Member States settled on future air systems,
specifically its capacity to deliver and support another large-scale
platform (helicopter, UAV and fast jet) in the 2035+ timeframe.
"EDA has recently let a Future Air Systems study to develop
a roadmap to identify key industrial capabilities required to
meet the future European military capability demands. The plan
aims to cover the next 10 years with prioritised actions for the
aerospace EDTIB. Any future UK engagement will need to align with
MoD's White Paper relating to Defence and Security Industrial
and Technology policy planned for late spring 2011, following
consultation arising from the Green Paper published in January
2011.
EUROPEAN DEFENCE EQUIPMENT MARKET AND CODE OF CONDUCT ON DEFENCE
PROCUREMENT
"In July 2006, the EDA launched the new European Defence
Equipment Market (EDEM) designed to increase transparency and
competition in defence procurement, provide better value for money,
broaden business opportunities and strengthen the global competitiveness
of the European industry.
"The EDA operates on the guidelines established in the Code
of Conduct (CoC) for defence procurement. The CoC was founded
on the rationale that permits Member States defence contracts
for domestic manufacturers where 'specifically military purposes'
are implicated. The regime has key strands of development aimed
at increasing international competitiveness. The UK has benefited
from the codes potential to improve the transparency and competitiveness
of European defence industry, and with it industry's ability to
meet more cost effectively an enhanced level of defence equipment
capability.
REACH DIRECTIVE
"The REACH directive is the EU regulation on chemicals and
their safe use. It deals with the Regulation, Evaluation, Authorisation
of Chemical (REACH) substances. The aim of REACH is to protect
human health and the environment by providing improved identification
and registration methods for chemicals. UK MoD complies with REACH
and has run an exemption regime applied where the substance and/or
its uses necessitate an exemption in the interest of defence.
"The UK considers that harmonisation of defence exemption
processes at European level is critical for national security
and maintaining the supply chain. Different approaches on the
methods used across Europe to grant defence exemptions may cause
complications. The majority of Member States agreed that the implementation
of REACH should be co-ordinated at the European level, with the
EDA as a natural lead. A Steering Board decision on REACH has
committed participating Member States to a common understanding
of REACH, the problems it poses and the way ahead. The EDA has
agreed it may be possible to develop a minimum set of requirements
for the granting of exemptions which would enable Member States
to accept other Member States' exemptions in a simpler manner.
SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY (SES)/SINGLE EUROPEAN SKY AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
RESEARCH (SESAR)
"The SESAR initiative was conceived by industry to renew
the European Air Traffic Management (ATM) infrastructure and procedures
by building on the legislative framework enabled by Single European
Sky. SESAR aims to secure an improved European ATM system that
will be capable of managing, safely and efficiently, the levels
of traffic expected by 2025. It is generally recognised that the
current European ATM Infrastructure and procedures are incapable
of meeting future requirements, without significant delays to
air traffic.
"The Project has been organised into three phases; Project
Definition, Development and Deployment. The European Commission
has set high-level targets for SESAR in that it should be able
to provide three times today's capacity whilst cutting ATM costs
in half, improving safety by a factor of ten, and reducing the
environmental impact of each flight by 10%.
"The UK notes the EDA proposal to examine how it could best
assist participating Member States over the Single European Sky
initiative and believes that the Agency may have a role to play
by conducting a gap analysis, identifying where it can add value,
and subsequently making proposals to the Military ATM Board (MAB)
for a decision.
EUROPEAN MILITARY AIRWORTHINESS REQUIREMENTS
"The EDA has set up the Military Airworthiness Authorities
Forum (MAWA) to develop common requirements for airworthiness.
The initiative will deliver harmonised military airworthiness
and certification standards across Europe. Timely development
and implementation of common standards for future air platforms
should reduce the duplication of effort by developers (i.e. do
things once rather than many times by each participating nation)
significantly decreasing the cost to military air systems of airworthiness
certification.
REPLACEMENT OF THE COUNCIL JOINT ACTION (2004/551/CFSP)
"During the course of 2010 the Agency has been preparing
with participating Member States a replacement for the Council
Joint Action of 2004 on the Agency's statute, seat and operational
rules. This is necessary in accordance with the provisions of
the amended Treaty on European Union (TEU) and as a planned periodic
review of the document. The UK's position has been for the replacement
document to retain the existing agreed Joint Action text as far
as practicable on the basis that it is acceptable to Member States
and has proved fit for purpose. The Agency remains hopeful of
submitting a draft Decision to Council for endorsement soon."
11.19 The Minister concludes by again noting that the Head
of the Agency delivered this report to the Council in Defence
Ministers formation on 26 April 2010.
Conclusion
11.20 We consider the latest Head of Agency Report, together
with its 2011 Budget and the question of a three-year financial
framework and Council guidelines for the Agency's work in 2011,
and the Government's general position on the EDA, elsewhere in
this Report.[68]
11.21 In addition, we again draw this further information
to the attention of the Defence Committee.
63 The Organisation Conjointe de Coopération
en matière d'ARmement was established by an Administrative
Arrangement on 12th November 1996 by the Defence Ministers of
France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Its aim is to provide more
effective and efficient arrangements for the management of certain
existing and future collaborative armament programmes. The four
founding Nations went on to sign a Treaty, the "OCCAR Convention",
which came into force on the 28th January 2001. Belgium and Spain
joined OCCAR in 2003 and 2005 respectively. The Netherlands, Luxembourg
and Turkey are also participating in a programme, without being
members of the organisation. For further information on OCCAR,
see http://www.occar-ea.org/. Back
64
For full background on the EDA and its activities, see http://www.eda.europa.eu.
Back
65
Stg Co Deb, European Standing
Committee B, 22 June 2004, cols. 3-24. Back
66
See Gen Co Deb, European Committee B, 1 March 2010, cols.
3-24: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmgeneral/euro/100301/100301s01.htm
for the record of that debate. Back
67
Networked Enabled Capability (NEC); Counter-Improvised Explosive
Devices (C-IED); Increased availability of helicopters; Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Architecture; Chemical,
Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence; Medical support;
Computer Network Operations (CNO); Military Human Intelligence
and Cultural / Language Training; Counter Man Portable Air Defence
Systems (C-MANPADS); Third Party Logistic Support (TPLS); Comprehensive
Approach - military implications; Maritime Mine Counter-Measures
(MMCM).
Back
68
See chapter 12 of this Report. Back
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