WRITTEN QUESTION E-1434/99

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: European defence industry Companies in the Spanish military naval sector The case of Bazán (Ferrol)

In the Commission Communication of December 1997 on the situation of the defence-related industries (COM(97) 0583 final) the establishment of an integrated European market for defence products is regarded as essential and a global approach (in the form of an action plan for a European armaments policy) is proposed for the purpose of implementing such a strategy.

The common position proposed at that time by the Commission was to be revised eighteen months later and that time limit has just recently expired.

Furthermore, the statement issued on 20 April 1998 by the Defence Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Spain, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to speeding up the consolidation of the European defence industry, was followed by a Letter of Intent signed in July 1998 by the Defence Ministers of the above countries, together with Sweden and the United Kingdom.

In the statement made at the Cologne European Council in June of this year (on which occasion a genuine European pillar seemed to have been established) the political will to promote the restructuring of the defence industry was expressed.

In view of the above, can the Commission say how all of this may affect Spanish companies in the miliary sector (with particular reference to the potential for setting up transnational defence companies) and specifically the Bazán company and its factory at Ferrol (Galicia)?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(13 October 1999)

The Commission feels that the Community must have a defence-linked industry that is both competitive and dynamic. In two communications(1)(2), specifically devoted to that subject it insisted on the urgent need for restructuring this sector at European level and on the need in parallel to this, to lay the legal foundations, enabling a European defence market to emerge.

Although the responsibility for that restructuring lies primarily with the companies involved themselves, the defence industry will continue to be politically sensitive. Governmental involvement is crucial as regards that restructuring, and the Member States must take any action needed in order to encourage and support the creation of truly European companies. Even where a Member State has no direct shareholding that State's influence derives from its position as a major customer, from its financial support for research and development (R&D), from its launch aid for programmes, its authority in controlling exports and its powers of certification.

In view of the aims set out in the letter of intent signed in June 1998 and of the declarations made at the Cologne European Council in June 1999 the Member States would now seem to want to concentrate on producing an internal market and to give companies more latitude in forging their alliances. The Commission fully subscribes to that general approach, which it has called for in its communications.

Moreover, as regards the changes hoped for by the companies themselves in the form of more cross-border alliances, the Commission can, in principle, only welcome these. This being so, it is in the specific case of the Bazán company, up to that company itself to map out its own strategy as regards industrial alliances, where appropriate in conjunction with the Spanish Government.

The common position put forward by the Commission in its 1997 communication(3) is still being discussed within the Council. Its adoption would bolster the action currently being taken by the Commission in line with its action plan in support of the defence industries(4).

(1) COM(97) 583 final.

(2) COM(96) 10 final.

(3) COM(97) 583 final.

(4) COM(96) 10 final.