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13 June 22. Joint Statement: U.S. – France Defense Trade Strategic Dialogue. Today, French and U.S. representatives met at the Eurosatory exhibition to launch the U.S.-France Defense Trade Strategic Dialogue. The terms of reference for the U.S.-France Defense Trade Strategic Group (DTSG) were signed by the co-chairs of the DTSG. Mr. Philippe Bertoux, Director for Strategic Affairs, Security and Disarmament of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs; LtGen. Thierry Carlier, Director for International Development of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces; and the Honorable Jessica Lewis, Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Michael Vaccaro, performing the duties of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (Acquisition & Sustainment) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) was also in attendance as the senior DoD representative and Co-Chair of the U.S. – France Cooperative Oversight of Programs (COOP).
The DTSG co-chairs, composed of senior-level members of the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense, and of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, intend to meet annually after a second meeting of the co-chairs later this year.
To achieve the objectives shared by the French and U.S. presidents, the DTSG intends to review topics such as defense market access and the efficiency of transnational acquisitions; export controls – including issues related to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and French export regulations; end-use monitoring programs; and international export control regimes. The DTSG will also consult with the COOP on future discussion topics such as the cyber protection of the defense technical and industrial base.
To address these subjects, the DTSG plans to draw on existing bilateral cooperation groups, such as the COOP, and on two newly created working groups focused on export control applicability and processes and end-use monitoring programs. These two working groups are meeting this week in Paris on the margins of the DTSG co-chairs’ meeting at the Eurosatory exhibition.
On the margins of the G20 Summit in Rome in October 2021, the President of the French Republic and the President of the United States affirmed the importance of stronger and more interoperable defense industrial bases in Europe and the United States. In view of the global context and new strategic challenges our nations face, maintaining and strengthening the transatlantic partnership is essential. This requires close coordination and open dialogue between both countries, to ensure smooth trade, fair competition, and effective export controls. With the objective to foster a shared view on defense market access and to identify steps to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of export controls, the two governments decided to launch the U.S.-France Defense Trade Strategic Dialogue.
Philippe Bertoux
IGA Thierry Carlier
The Honorable Jessica Lewis
Mr. Michael Vaccaro (Source: US DoD)
13 June 22. NATO and the EU are not the driving force behind defence cooperation in Europe. Defence cooperation in Europe is not driven by NATO or EU policy but is governed by an unprecedented number of small-scale, military collaborations between states, according to a new book by a King’s College London researcher.
Dr Bence Nemeth, Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s, says there is a web of hundreds of such partnerships which can often come about due to personal relationships between leaders, as well as the economic and political priorities of states.
His book How to achieve defence cooperation in Europe – The subregional approach offers an innovative theory to explain the dynamics behind creating successful defence collaboration in Europe. The book provides useful insights for policymakers and researchers grappling with the future of European defence, in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Dr Nemeth said “As a result of the war in Ukraine, policymakers in Europe and North America have scrambled to strengthen defence cooperation in Europe. The headlines inevitably focus on NATO and the European Union. Yet this ignores the reality of how European defence cooperation is actually established, fostered, and solidified.”
“To better enhance European defence, policymakers should appreciate the dynamics of these many collaborations. Taking advantage of the current circumstances to build more mini and bilateral ties, particularly where leadership and financial circumstances are most conducive, will strengthen Europe and make its multilateral institutions such as NATO and the EU, that much more formidable.”
The decade-long research project undertaken by Dr Nemeth, who previously spent eight years working as a defence official at the Hungarian Ministry of Defence, reveals that the essence of European defence cooperation is a complex network of hundreds of bilateral and minilateral collaborations. While these forms of cooperation are not new, their recent proliferation is unprecedented in Europe’s history. Agreements range from multinational military units to cooperating on armaments, training, logistics, surveillance, operations, and command and control.
According to Dr Nemeth, usually, NATO and the European Union work merely as a framework into which these European countries channel their ongoing bilateral and minilateral defence collaborations. Often these arrangements can be rebranded as EU and NATO projects quickly if necessary, and even shape NATO and EU policies from the bottom up.
Factors such as the personal relationships between leaders in different states and the domestic and international political climate, as well as the need to pool limited defence budgets between countries, help create windows of opportunity for military cooperation.
According to the book, cooperation usually starts when leaders — politicians, civil servants, or military officers — invest the extra effort needed to foster closer ties, often when they have good chemistry. For instance, David Cameron, the former British Prime Minister, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president at that time, were able agree on the Lancaster House Treaties in 2010 due to their good working relationship. Dr Nemeth says it is hard to imagine something similar occurring between Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron, due to their strained relationship.
A supportive political environment is also needed, according to the research. This can come either from the domestic or international developments. Currently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has created a political climate in Europe that is extremely supportive to defence collaborations.
Dr Nemeth says the theory his book introduces can also explain how small-scale collaborations are often crucial in developing significant partnerships. For example, the UK and Estonia built on close relations established after 10 years of joint operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, with the UK taking on a leading role working with Estonia, as part of NATO operations on its eastern flank. Another example is the way Lithuania has become a defence market for Germany and a recipient of German NATO troops. Furthermore, thanks to cultural similarity and extensive previous military cooperation, the Czech Republic has sent the most troops to Slovakia and oversees the international forces located there, and for similar reasons, France deployed 500 troops to Romania.
13 June 22. European defence industry cooperation must be enhanced, Macron says. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday cooperation in the European Union’s defence industry needed to be enhanced, including by the introduction of measures to favour EU companies on strategic issues.
In a speech to a defence industry event in Paris, Macron stressed the changed geopolitical situation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reiterating his call for boosting European autonomy when it comes to its defence capacities.
“We need to…have a stronger industrial and technological base for European defence, one that is much stronger and much more ambitious. And I will be intractable on this subject,” Macron told the gathering.
“The time has come to put in place…a European preference, to build, when necessary and possible, rational mechanisms for the acquisition of common capabilities.”
Public tender rules among EU states for defence industry contracts, he said, should also be simplified to allow more transnational cooperation.
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Addressing defence industry bosses, Macron also pledged to step up domestic military investment, saying he had asked his army ministry and joint chief of staff to reassess a military spending bill.
“We have entered a war economy in which I believe we will have to organise ourselves in the long term,” Macron said, referring to the Ukraine conflict.
The daily Le Monde reported on Monday that the French government was considering changes to legislation to allow the state to requisition the capacities of businesses in the civilian sector for its military procurement, something normally permitted only during a state of war.
(Source: glstrade.com/Reuters)
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