The EU and armaments co-operation

Europe needs more military capabilities. Yet European defence budgets are static, and the cost of new military technologies is soaring. It is clear that governments need to extract more value out of each euro they spend. Therefore European governments need to co-operate more closely on armaments. Daniel Keohane describes how flat defence budgets and the rising costs of equipment have led to transnational mergers of defence companies. A European defence industry is taking shape. But the European defence market remains fragmented into many national pieces and it needs liberalisation.

Daniel Keohane was a senior research fellow at the CER (2001-2006).