Trio leadership: The need to liberalise the European defence market

Over the last year, renewed defence spending cuts in many EU member-states have increased the need for closer EU defence co-operation. European governments have long acknowledged that significant savings could be gained through more common procurement in defence, joint logistics and common ownership of the most expensive military capabilities. In response to the new defence spending cuts, the EU has introduced a series of initiatives, in recent months - including a German-Swedish sponsored plan - to help member-states explore more 'pooling and sharing' of their military equipment.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Britain and France should not give up on EU defence co-operation http://www.europeansources.info/record/britain-and-france-should-not-give-up-on-eu-defence-co-operation/

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