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Moving towards a European Defence Industry? The Political Discourse on a Changing Reality and its Implications for the Future of the European Union

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13600826.2010.508340

1469-798X

André Barrinha,

European Union Policy and Governance

Abstract Since the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 the European Union has been an increasingly important actor in the field of security and defence. However, the defence industries sector has largely been kept away from Brussels. This has usually been justified by the role that national defence industries have traditionally played as fundamental pillars for the survival of the European nation-states, thus making them reluctant to share this "sovereign tool" with the European Union. Nonetheless, recent steps in both the economic (large number of mergers and acquisitions within the European defence industry sector) and the political (security and defence integration measures within the European Union) arenas have contributed to changes in the political discourse on defence industries within the European space. This article aims to explore how the national discourse on defence industries has become interrelated with a European discourse on the topic—a European discourse that mixes some of the old national arguments with particular aspects related to the constant evolution of the European Union towards an ever more coherent regional polity and international actorness. Also analysed is the extent to which this political move puts at risk the European Union's ambitions to promote a better world, based on an alternative understanding of international politics. Notes 1. "A Secure Europe in a Better World" (Brussels, 12 December 2003), available: . 2. Ibid. 3. "Overview of the Missions and Operation of the European Union" (May 2010), available: . 4. These Battle Groups (BGs) are composed of 1,500 soldiers, capable of intervening in a conflict theatre for 30 days without any extra support. These BGs can either be composed exclusively of national forces or be part of a multinational contingent. EU Council Secretariat, "EU Battlegroups Factsheet" (November 2006). 5. Council of the European Union, "Council Joint Action 2004/551/CFSP of 12 July 2004 on the Establishment of the European Defence Agency", Official Journal of the European Union (2004). 6. Javier Solana, "The Future of the European Union as an International Actor" (2005), available: . 7. Ian Manners, "Normative Power Europe: A Contradiction in Terms?", Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2 (2002), pp. 235–258. 8. As this article is focused merely on the political justification and political understanding of defence industries, the views of the industry itself will not be contemplated here. 9. Keith Krause, Arms and the State: Patterns of Military Production and Trade (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). 12. "Linking Arms", The Economist (12 June 1997). 10. Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979). 11. 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