Paris, 3 December 2008 – The European Defence Agency (EDA) should be given responsibility alongside the European Commission for rationalising the European Security and Defence Equipment Market (ESDEM), according to an Assembly vote on Wednesday.

Presenting a report entitled “European Commission initiatives concerning the European Defence Equipment Market – reply to the annual report of the Council” for the Technological and Aerospace Committee, Edward O’Hara (United Kingdom, Socialist Group) said that the EDA should be “resourced and developed further to perform the role of achieving a well-founded ESDEM offering a safe and technologically advanced supply of equipment for Europe’s armed forces”. That was the way, he added, to achieve “a secure Europe in a better world” and give “ESDEM the clout to win a fairer reciprocity in entry to and technological transfers with the US defence market”.

The report analyses the Communication and two draft directives on the European Defence Equipment Market (EDEM) published by the European Commission last December which introduce the security element (hence  ESDEM).

The nine recommendations flow from the arguments set out in the report and include urging the implementation of the Commission draft directives as soon as they have been adopted, encouraging companies to consolidate through mergers and ensuring that investments in the sector do not suffer more than marginally from the current economic crisis.

The principles behind the Commission’s initiatives are still pending approval by European countries. Moreover, uncertainty remains over the Lisbon Treaty and the global economic crisis “will put all budgets under pressure”, Mr O’Hara said. “To negotiate these obstacles, they [EU members] need a driver, and the most obvious available driver is the EDA”.